


Xenophobia

by EeveeNicks



Series: Human [3]
Category: Alien Series, Aliens (1986), Metroid Series
Genre: Alien Technology, Aliens, Bounty Hunters, Gen, Genetically Engineered Beings, Horror, Mercenaries, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sci-Fi, Survival Horror, Xenomorph (Alien) - Freeform, Xenomorphs, lv-426, weaponized lifeforms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-08-13 09:30:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 36
Words: 122,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7971823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EeveeNicks/pseuds/EeveeNicks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ellen Ripley and the other survivors are stranded on the destroyed Earth Colony on LV-426. However, disaster strikes when a Galactic Federation ship sent to rescue them explodes before reaching the surface. Ripley must team up with Adam Malkovich to try to survive the attacks of the Xenomorphs. Unbeknownst to them, bounty hunter Samus Aran has been contracted to hunt the Aliens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest story, "Xenophobia!" This story is a Metroid/Aliens crossover, and I just wanted to mention a couple of things before the story starts. Yes, this is technically part three to the series that started with "Human" and "Spawn", but it is a different sort of genre. While those two stories are human dramas, this is a sci-fi horror story and can be read on its own without having read the rest of the series. I do recommend reading the other two if you are interested because it will give background information on the world and the characters, but it is not 100% necessary, particularly if dramas are not your thing. Although, bare in mind, this story will have spoilers for the other two.
> 
> This story takes place in a blended version of the Metroid and Alien universes, as was introduced in "Spawn". The Galactic Federation is the main governing body, although Earth and other planets do have their own smaller governments and militias. Time-wise, this story takes place as a sort of AU during the events of Aliens and a few months after the events of Super Metroid. And yes, a big part of why I'm writing this story is because I want to have Samus Aran fight Xenomorphs.
> 
> So, without further ado, I present to you "Xenophobia."

The control room of the "Kitty Hawk" was quiet as planet Calpamos and its moon, LV-426, came into view. The planet did not look any different than most did, especially not at this distance. A thin ring encircled its mass, and grays and browns swirled together on its surface in a fashion that made it look almost like a marble. Almost. Its little moon looked even more serene, a cool grey-ish blue sphere close to the size of Earth.

As the General stood with his hands resting behind his back, he stared out at the moon through the forward window of the spacecraft. He was a tall, intimidating figure in a long, blue General's coat and hat. His grey eyes fit well with his almost coal-colored hair and cold, serious demeanor. He knew the moon may have looked peaceful from a distance, but so did everything else in the galaxy if one was far enough away. He also knew, though, that the serene atmosphere was merely a façade, and all hell raged loose on its surface. Some sort of unknown, sentient creature had destroyed an entire Earth Colony and may have even killed the small battalion of Colonial Marines that had been sent to investigate the sudden radio silence.

It had been a long time since Adam Malkovich had actually seen combat. Though he had been a prominent figure through most of the Space Pirate War, he was now fifty years old, and it showed around his eyes and in the grey streaks through his hair. When he had been promoted to General eight years back, he had taken a sort of back seat, commanding troops from a distance and strategizing from afar with the Galactic Federation's Secretary of Defense and other Generals. So it was strange when, two days ago, he received a message from General Harper that he was to lead the expedition of Federation Army Special Forces on the LV-426 investigation. Very strange, particularly in a time of relative peace now that the Space Pirates were no more. But after thirty-two years in the service, he was not about to disobey a direct order that had come down from the Chairman and the Secretary of Defense.

In some ways it felt good to be back in the action, he mused as he sat down to the controls and pulled up a violet holoscreen charting the ship's course to the moon. There had always been something unsettling to him about sitting in a safe control chamber while those under his command risked their lives on the battlefield. He understood why things were the way they were even if he didn't always like it.

According to the screen's readout, the ship would be entering the atmosphere of LV-426 within the hour. It was simulated night aboard the ship at the moment, and the troops were asleep, but that would change soon. For now, the General would enjoy the last few moments of relative silence before they touched down on the moon's surface and the expedition truly began. He took his time reading over the charts and mission instructions as he nursed a steaming cup of coffee.

It was not long, however, before a hatch opened behind him and a woman stepped into the room. She was a very tall and thin young woman with long brown hair that fell below her waste. Her pale complexion suggested she never stayed planet-side very long, and her white lab coat spoke to her role in the mission.

"Good morning, General, Malkovich," she greeted as she entered the room.

"Good morning, Dr. Grey," he replied gruffly, not looking up from his holoscreen charts. "Something I can help you with?"

The young woman shrugged. "Not really. I suppose I'm just up earlier than the others. I was a little nervous and didn't sleep particularly well."

Adam nodded, looking up at her finally as he gestured for her to take a seat in the co-pilot's chair. "I suppose you don't get deployed into hostile terrain very often."

Sitting down, Dr. Grey shook her head. "No, this is my first time. But when I was asked to join this mission, I didn't think I should turn it down." She shifted uncomfortably. "I've never heard of a species like the ones described by that former flight officer. I know the Weyland-Yutani Corporation had a contract to check it out, but if they didn't survive…"

The General didn't know what to say to that. It went without saying that at this point, the likelihood of finding survivors on LV-426 was low. Having survived almost 30 years of war against the Space Pirates, such things had simply become commonalities he quietly accepted, occasionally haunted by how numb he had become to them. Dr. Grey, on the other hand, had only been with the Federation Army for a short while, and she had never seen combat.

Her presence on this mission was simply as a scientist and a doctor. While she was a skilled physician for human patients, she also specialized in studying newly discovered sentient species. Though the "xenomorphs" they had been sent to investigate were hostile entities that had likely destroyed a colony of terraformers and possibly killed a group of colonial marines, Dr. Grey normally specialized in studying new species who had the potential to become citizens of the Galactic Federation.

"I'm sorry," she said after a prolonged silence, "I didn't mean to be so pessimistic… I suppose it's nerves talking."

The General shook his head and sighed as he continued to stare at the screen. "You're being realistic. It's been days since we've had contact. We need to expect the worst, Dr. Grey."

"Portia… please." She looked up at him with round brown eyes that possessed too much innocence. "Just call me, Portia."

Adam glanced over at her sideways and grunted. "Noted."

He tried to ignore the Doctor's presence for the remainder of the flight, even after the overhead lights brightened, signifying the switch into simulated day. It was not that he disliked the young doctor, but she kept glancing nervously around, looking back at the hatch and then over to him again. It made it very difficult to focus on the task at hand. As they pulled into LV-426's atmosphere, he could feel her stiffen beside him. First deployments into hostile territory made a lot of people nervous, and while the General had gotten used to it a long time ago, her novice anxiety was affecting him as well.

He knew the troops were awake by the time landing was imminent, but as he switched the ship's mode to prepare for touchdown, a sudden blast jolted the ship. The General was thrown forward into the controls, barely having enough time to brace himself with his arms to protect his face and chest. He heard a snap as the violet holoscreens turned a bright red and alarm bells began blaring throughout the ship.

Adam turned to Portia just in time to reach out and grab her before another explosion rocked the ship and they were both thrown from their chairs. As warnings flashed that the engines had become disabled, the bottom-heavy ship shifted midair air so that both the doctor and the General were thrown away from the controls as they collided with the back wall. Portia screamed as Adam threw himself between her and the wall, taking the brunt of the impact.

They had barely a moment to breathe before the ship entered a free fall and both bodies were flung into the control panel and explosions erupted on the other side of the hatch. Only one wall stood between them and the inferno that raged in the main part of the ship.

The force of impact against the control panel was painful, and Portia screamed again and Adam struggled to breathe. The impact had knocked the wind out of him, and as the ship plunged to the ground below, he felt his whole body being forced into the hard surface. He tried to yell for the doctor, but he could not even hear himself over the blasts and the cacophony of loose objects flying toward them from elsewhere in the control room. The only thing that saved him was that he was able to roll behind the protection of the pilot's seat. Portia, on the other hand, was less fortunate as a tablet flew forward and struck her in the side of the head, rendering her unconscious.

Alone in the dying ship, the General knew he only had a few seconds to act before they would all collide with the surface of the moon. In a last ditch effort to save himself and anyone else he could, he reached forward as far as he could to the main controls and entered the code to detach the control room and sleeping chambers from the main portion of the ship.

* * *

As she watched the ship enter the atmosphere, Ellen Ripley felt something she had not felt at all in the days she had been stranded on the godforsaken rock of LV-426. Hope. True hope that some someone from the government or from the Company had finally responded to their distress calls. She was not sure how long she and the other had been trapped in the remains of the desolated Earth colony, but it felt like weeks with how frequently the sun rose and set. More likely, it had not been more than a couple of days by Federation Standard Time.

However, just as any sliver of hope had been since they had landed on the moon, her hope at seeing the ship was short-lived. Within minutes of entering the atmosphere, the ship had exploded and gone up into a fireball as it hurdled down to the surface. She could feel her stomach turning and thought she might be sick as more blasts rocked the ship even as it fell. Though she wanted to turn away, she found her eyes glued to the sight.

It was not until just before it hit the surface, however, that something amazing happened. At the very last moment, instead of fully making impact, two pieces of the ship and jettisoned away from the conflagration just in time before it struck the ground and blew up into a great mushroom cloud. The two pieces that escaped flew off in opposite directions, but she could see even from her distance that the flames had not affected them.

The brown-haired woman smiled turned to a small blonde girl who stood beside her.

"Newt," she said quietly, "there may be more survivors."

 


	2. Survivors

Samus Aran had been hesitant at first when government had offered her a contract to exterminate the creatures dubbed "xenomorphs". While she had undertaken similar missions in the past, something had not sat right with her when it came to completely annihilating a recently discovered species. Her past dealings with the metroids had been personal as well as profitable, but she had never even heard of a xenomorph until Chairman Keaton had offered her one million credits to eliminate them from LV-426. She had almost turned down the contract until she saw images of the destruction they had caused. And images of the human bodies they had mutilated and left purposefully in view of the cameras. That was when she accepted the contract.

But it still had not become personal at that point, not truly personal anyway. Though seeing the wreckage of what was once a thriving Earth colony struck a chord with her, it was nothing too far out of the ordinary. That all changed, however, with the Chairman's most recent message. There had been an explosion on a ship carrying a squadron of Federation Army Special Forces, and General Malkovich, her former commanding officer and longtime friend, had been on board that ship when it crash landed on LV-426.

Bounty hunter Samus Aran stood in the cockpit of her small golden ship and stared at where the Chairman had been on the holoscreen only moments before. The tall, blonde woman clutched the back of her pilot's seat as she processed what the little green alien had just said to her. Not currently wearing her signature Chozo battle armor, Samus was still an intimidating woman. Heavily muscled and standing a full six-foot-three, she looked every bit the seasoned mercenary she was. The form-fitting navy blue jumpsuit she wore hid most of the scars that reflected her years of combat experience, but it highlighted the faded, vein-like blue scars around her right eye, the last remnants of a Phazon infection from several years back.

On a normal day, the Chairman's orders would have been simple enough to follow: immediately set a course for LV-426 because even a moment's delay could be fatal to Adam and his crew. But today was not a normal day.

She glanced behind her to the teenage boy standing beside a large brown dog and staring at her with his big green eyes. The boy, Hector Fields, was nearly as tall as Samus herself, but he was thinner and more closely resembled his father everywhere except his sandy hair and the shape of his eyes. His eyes were Samus's eyes.

Despite having given birth to him, Samus had only met her estranged son for the first time a couple of weeks ago when she had visited Earth. On a whim, he had decided to chase after her when she flew to the Federation's capitol on Daiban, and he had nearly gotten himself killed at a bounty hunter bar looking for her. Had she not arrived in time to rescue him, he would likely have met his end that day. More specifically, he may have met his end had Samus not swooped in at the last moment and blown another hunter's head off to save him from being shot. The boy may have had his father's looks, but that was the day Samus realized he had inherited her impulsivity and recklessness.

Now the boy stared at her with a look of confused horror that mirrored her own. Slowly, wordlessly, the mercenary turned from her son and sat down in her pilot's seat. Her ship had been on route to Earth so she could bring him home to his father before preparing to exterminate the xenomorphs. Now, however, she knew what she needed to do despite how much it frightened her to do so. Without hesitation, she overrode its set destination and input the coordinates for LV-426. The idea of taking her son with her on an extremely dangerous mission had previously been unthinkable, but there were many lives at risk, and even now, she was calculating all of the precautions she could take to keep him safe even if she herself never returned from the mission.

"Hector," she called over to the boy and motioned to the ship's controls. "Come here. I'm going to teach you how to operate this thing."

Complete shock replaced the horror that had been in Hector's eyes only moments before as he walked up to his mother and stared at the control. To his surprise, she stood up and motioned for him to sit in the chair.

"Have you ever flown before?" she asked tersely, trying to formulate all aspects of her plan in her mind.

"N-no." He looked at her nervously as he sat in her seat and stared at the controls. All of the readouts and labels were in a language he had never seen before, and he wondered if it was the bird-like language he occasionally heard her speaking in to her dog. "I drove my dad's car once though."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Not quite the same. Although I'm glad your father had the good sense to get a hover car instead of one of those four-wheeled death traps you Earthlings seem to be so fond of." She sighed. "The ship won't recognize you by genetic signature since you only have my human genes, so I'm going to have to override that feature and add you to the system."

Hector was about to ask how she was going to do that when something popped out of the armrest and jabbed him in the finger. As the sneaky little device stole a drop of blood, a holoscreen appeared and began processing his genetic code. At least, that's what he assumed it was doing. Samus began speaking to the computer in her strange language, and it seemed to respond accordingly with more of the weird text. After a couple of moments it made a friendly-sounding beep, which Hector took to mean it processed his DNA all right and recognized him.

_"Hector Aran Fields,"_ a synthesized voice said suddenly in English,  _"Human male. Fifteen standard years. Twenty percent genetic match with bounty hunter Samus Aran."_

Hector was confused for a moment. Given that Samus was his mother, they should have been about a fifty percent match, but then he remembered that Samus was no longer fully human, and her genetic information would show her as a hybrid of at least two species. Still, twenty percent seemed like too low of a number to him given that Samus looked exactly like a human woman. There were still so many things he did not know about this woman who was his mother.

Samus said something else in her language, still speaking to the ship's computer.

_"Co-pilot recognized. Flight access granted to Human Male Hector Aran Fields. Aged fifteen standard years."_

Hector stared blankly at the computer and hoped it would not have to state his species and age every time it addressed him. That would get old quickly. He did not have time to think about it, however, as a bright sphere near his left hand began glowing and the controls brightened before him.

"Put your hand on the sphere," Samus commanded, taking his hand and placing it there with hers on top. "Let it get used to you. This system reads your neural output and if you focus, you should be able to move the ship with your mind."

Hector stared at their hands in disbelief before turning his attention to the forward window and concentrating. He was not sure exactly how he was supposed to command the ship and tried visualizing it moving faster. However, nothing changed, and the little ship continued flying at the same speed it had been previously.

"Think about it less like a ship," Samus said, leaning down closer to him. "Think of it more like a part of your body and send an impulse to it like you're moving your leg."

It was a strange concept to the boy, but he closed his eyes and tried to do what the bounty hunter said. First, he tried visualizing the ship again, but this time with himself as a part of it. After a little while, he concentrated as hard as he could and sent an impulse to try to make it go faster.

The ship jerked forward suddenly, breaking his concentration and making him jump. He opened his eyes and looked around to see Samus snickering at him.

"Did you do that?" he asked, still rattled from the sudden movement.

The mercenary shook her head. "No, kid. That was all you."

Hector swallowed hard and blinked a few times. "How do you even control this thing? Just making it move that little bit was so hard."

"I know." Samus smiled. "It takes a lot of focus, but I've been doing this for a long time. I don't expect you to grasp this overnight, but I want you to know the basics in case you need to evacuate before I return."

"What?"

Samus looked at her son very seriously. "This ship has extremely powerful shielding. Even most of my weaponry won't put a dent in it. While we're planetside, I need you to stay in the ship. I should be able to communicate with you through my suit's comm device, but if you lose contact with me or you're in any kind of danger at all, I need you to take control of the ship and get off LV-426, understand?"

The boy was dumbfounded as he regarded his mother with wide eyes. "But Samus, what about you?"

The bounty hunter shook her head. "Don't worry about me. I can survive pretty much anywhere, and I'll find a way to escape. The ship's computer can walk you through take off and how to choose a destination and activate hyperdrive."

He just looked at her, not sure what to say. He was not sure that if the situation arose that he would actually be able to leave her stranded on a hostile world.

"What kind of weapon do you want?" she asked suddenly, her attention shifting to bringing the ship up to hyperspeed.

"Um… weapon?"

"Yeah. What do you shoot?"

"…Shoot?"

The ship jerked awkwardly as Samus's attention snapped back to her son. "Yeah, shoot. When your father taught you how to shoot, what kind of guns did you like? I have a pretty big arsenal. I can hook you up with almost anything you want."

"I… I don't know." Hector was not sure how to react. "I grew up on Earth. In the suburbs. I've never shot a gun before."

Samus looked horrified. "What the hell is wrong with your father?"

"Samus, I'm fifteen."

"So?" She looked like she was going to be sick. "I was ten years younger than you when I started my combat training!"

"That's… disturbing."

A sound like a growl emitted from the bounty hunter's throat and she looked like she was trying very hard to hold herself back from lashing out. "When I see… your father… again… I'm going to…" She stopped mid sentence, closed her eyes and took a breath. "Never mind." She shook her head again and stood up. "I've got something you can use."

Hector watched curiously as the mercenary turned around and unlocked one of the metallic compartments on the cockpit's back wall. He hated admitting it to himself, but his mother was terrifying when she was angry, and he found himself shaking slightly. The only other time he had seen her temper go off, she had shot another bounty hunter in the head and beaten the crap out of a small space ship. Then again, last time she had gotten mad, it was because someone had attempted to murder him.

"Here," she said, handing him a bulky silver handgun. "This'll have to do for now."

Taking the gun, Hector looked at it in confusion. He had never seen anything like it before.

"It's called a Paralyzer," she said as though reading his mind. "You pull back one click on the trigger to charge it and one more to fire it. It's a nonlethal, but it will stun your enemies long enough for you to get away."

"Thank you, Samus…"

Samus shrugged. "I don't have time to give you a proper firearms safety course, but that stupid thing saved my life once. I don't put much stock in the concept of good luck charms, but if I ever had one, that gun would be it."

Hector wanted to comment on how it was slightly scary that her "good luck charm" was a gun but decided against it. If she had been training for combat at five years old, the concept would be completely lost on her. As it was, her view of the world was completely lost on him, and he could not even begin to imagine what her life must have been like.

"Now, get out of my seat," the bounty hunter said, shooing the boy away. "Adam and his troops are out there. I need to kick this thing into high gear."

* * *

"Wake up, Gorman!" Ripley called out as she and Newt slipped back into the underground bunker. Clutching the ladder with one hand, she pulled down the heavy metal trap door behind her and turned the dial back to lock it. "We've got company!"

The Lieutenant stirred from where he sat asleep in the corner. His was a young man with pale skin and his hair buzzed short. Despite his lack of consciousness, he held his VP70 tight in his left hand, ready for an attack at any moment. "…Company?"

"Shit, Gorman," a tough looking young woman glared at him as she walked over to Ripley and Newt. "Look alive!"

The little blonde girl ran off deeper into what appeared to be an abandoned one-room nuclear fallout shelter the survivors had found a few days back. It was a stark, rectangular prism with bluish steal walls making up all six sides. It was mostly barren except for a small supply of canned food in the back corner and a couple of empty crates they had appropriated into chairs. Initially, it had seemed like a sanctuary, but between the four humans, supplies had gotten low quickly. The only positive was that the monsters had not yet tried to get in, but low supply levels meant they had to take turns going out on runs. Unfortunately, out of all of them, the only member of their party who seemed to know her way around the desolated remains of the colony was the child called Newt.

Lieutenant Gorman looked back at the tough young woman, but his eyes lacked any conviction. Despite having been the commanding officer of the unit when they arrived, he no longer felt entitled to that position. Until he had been killed a couple of days ago, Corporal Hicks had assumed that role after Gorman had been knocked unconscious. Given that this mission had only been his third non-simulated combat drop, he could not help feeling it was his own inexperience that had led to all but one of his soldiers being killed.

"Vasquez," Ripley called out, closing the distance between herself and the other woman. "I need your help."

"Tell me it's more of those fucking bugs." Vasquez clutched her pulse rifle with both hands. She was a small but muscular woman with tan skin and dark hair. Her clothes were dirty and faded as everyone's were, making the red bandana around her head stand out all the more. "I've been stuck in here too damn long. I've gotta end some of them."

"No bugs." Ripley shook her head. "Might be good news for a change." Ripley was older than either of the other two. She was a pale, plain-looking woman with curly, dark brown hair that just touched the tops her shoulders. She wore a loose-fitting navy blue flight suit with a white tee shirt underneath.

"We could sure use some of that," Gorman piped in from the corner, although he did not sound convinced it was real.

"Well a ship just entered the atmosphere. Federation by the looks of it."

"No shit?" Vasquez raised her eyebrows and grinned. "Sounds like I might not need to go bug-killing today after all."

"Don't celebrate just yet," Ripley stated firmly, bringing down Vasquez's lightening mood. "It looked like it blew up and crashed somewhere on the surface."

"That's your good news?" Vasquez rolled her eyes and lowered her rifle. "Don't get our hopes up like that!"

"It's not all bad though," Ripley continued, still commanding the attention of everyone in the little bunker. "Before it crashed, two parts of it detached and shot off in opposite directions. I think it's likely there are survivors in there because somebody must have been alive to launch them." She turned to Vasquez. "I need you to come up to the surface with me and look for them."

"All right!" Vasquez gripped her rifle again, looking triumphant. "That's what I'm talking about! We bringing Gorman too?"

"No," Ripley replied a bit too hastily, drawing a sideways look from the Lieutenant. "Newt's staying down here," she continued more quietly, mostly to Vasquez, "and I don't want her alone with that fucking synthetic." Ripley could not help glancing up toward the back of the room at the crew's only non-human member.

An android, Bishop resembled a middle-aged human male. He had a long face and a large forehead with almost sad-looking hazel eyes. His hair was brown, and although he pretended to be oblivious to the humans' conversation, he could hear them clear as day. For the most part, since the group had hidden down in the bunker, he had avoided interacting with anyone, particularly Ripley whose distrust of artificially intelligent life forms was overwhelming at times.

"Gotcha," Vasquez said quietly. "So you and I head out now and leave Gorman, the kid, and Bishop here?"

"That's the plan," Ripley replied as Newt looked over to her with round, frightened eyes.

"All right," Vasquez said, ignoring the little girl and looking Ripley in the eyes as she cocked her gun. "Let's get out there and do this!"

 


	3. From the Day We Arrive on the Planet

The world faded back slowly as Adam regained consciousness. The first thing he was aware of was the intense pain all over his body accompanied by a sick feeling. When he tried to open his eyes, it was as if the room was spinning, and he abruptly shut them again. He tried to remember what happened. The ship. The explosion. Being thrown into the control panel. Ejecting the cockpit.

He must have survived that somehow. Otherwise, he reasoned, he would not be in so much pain. After a while, he tried opening his eyes again, and while everything still felt like it was moving, the General managed to keep them open and slowly sit up. Before he could take the time to assess his injuries, he found himself leaning over to one side and vomiting up the contents of his stomach. Disgusting though it may have been, he felt strangely better after and was able to focus better on the world around him.

Looking around, he determined that he was still in the cockpit, if it could even be called that anymore. It had crash-landed with the control side tilted down at a forty-five degree angle. All of the lights were dead, but fortunately, it was day and light from the sun shone in from where the back wall of the cockpit had been torn off. He could not remember when that had happened. He was not sure exactly when he had lost consciousness.

He remembered being at the controls and entering the atmosphere. Starting the landing sequence and trying to ignore someone…

Portia.

The General looked around frantically, searching for any sign of the young doctor. Willing himself forward, he managed to get to his hands and knees and crawl across the ground that was littered with burnt debris and twisted metal. It didn't take him long to spot her. Part of her anyway. He could see her limp hand reaching forward from beneath the co-pilot's chair that must have come detached in the crash.

Ignoring the pain shooting through his knees and back, Adam forced himself toward her and took her hand. It was still warm. That was a good sign. He felt for a pulse in her wrist, and although it was faint, he found one. Fortunately, the chair was not heavy and he was able to clear it and the other small pieces of debris away from her. Not sure if she had hit her head, he avoided moving her so he would not risk doing damage to her spine. Leaning down by her face, he could hear her breathing normally. The side of her head was bleeding, but the wound was shallow. There were superficial cuts on both of their bodies but nothing that concerned him.

He wished he had some way of doing a better assessment of both of their conditions. In his case though, he was pretty sure he was just kind of banged up from the crash. Even if the two of them were alive, though, there was no way of telling if any of the troops had survived when he had ejected the sleeping quarters before the ship crashed. At least LV-426 had housed a terraformer colony for the past twenty years. At least they would survive the atmosphere.

Leaving Portia's side for a moment, the General crawled over to a long red box made of steel. It was heavy, and he struggled to push it back to where Portia lay, but he managed. His back protested the whole time, and he knew if they survived the night he would be in for a world of hurt tomorrow. Once he was back by the unconscious doctor's side, he opened the box and took stock of the supplies they had.

The flairs probably would not be too helpful given that they would be more likely to attract hostiles than allies, but it was good to know they were there. There were a couple of basic medical kits, which he took out. There was a transmitter device so he might have been able to call back to HQ if it worked. Other than that, there were a few basic things like rope, blankets, fire starters, etc. He still had his sidearm, but he doubted Portia had one when she had come into the cockpit. There were supposed to be other guns around, but most had been stored in the back wall that had blown out. So now it looked like all he had was a glorified handgun and an unconscious woman who may or may not have been critically injured. And he was not sure of the extent of his own injuries.

Adam silently contemplated the fact that they may be the only living people on this whole world. Trying to push that thought out of his mind, he turned to Portia and covered her with one of the blankets. He did not know when night would fall, but he knew she needed to keep warm regardless. Turning back to the supply box, he tried the transmitter a few times, but he couldn't get anything to come in clear. It was strange given how reliable emergency transmitters usually were, but he figured it probably got destroyed in the crash.

That didn't leave him with very many options. There were plenty of MREs, flashlights, and heat sources in the box, so they would be all right for the night on that front. The back wall might be missing, but at least the wreckage provided something of a shelter for them. The real problem wouldn't be starvation, thirst, or shelter though.

The real problem would be the creatures. Whatever had destroyed the colony called "Hadley's Hope" was still out there, and even a full unit of Colonial Marines had likely fallen prey to it. Adam did not know much about the creatures, although he probably knew more than most people, having read the reports by Nostromo survivor Ellen Ripley. Although there was no way of telling how accurate those were. He didn't know if they hunted more during the day or at night or how many there were. He supposed he could try to make runs into the remains of the colony for more supplies if they ever ran out here, but he was certain if they stayed here that long, they would not survive. A ship crash-landing was bound to draw a lot of attention, and frankly, he was surprised none of the creatures had shown up yet. Perhaps they mostly came out at night, he reasoned.

Adam looked back at Portia as she stirred slightly but remained unconscious. Staying here was dangerous, but he could not leave her and he could not move her. Besides, he had no idea what he would be stumbling into if he tried to leave the ship's remains. It would be better to stay at least until either the doctor woke up or until he was sure she never would. He was not even sure how far he would be able to make it in his current condition anyway. He would try the transmitter a few more times, and he would try to figure out a plan for survival.

A colony had already been wiped out, and a unit of Colonial Marines had already gone missing. Now the Army Special Forces had failed and gotten stranded. He doubted the government would send a third rescue mission at this point.

* * *

Samus had a lot of questions as she approached LV-426. It had not taken her long to change her course and fly through hyperspace to get to the moon, but it had been a tense trip. Nothing had felt right to her about this whole situation since she had first heard of it, and when Adam had told he was being deployed on a mission, she was instantly suspicious that something was up. And then when Chairman Keaton had called her stating that Adam had been send to LV-426 without his knowledge, Samus was certain there was something rotten going on in the Federation's government.

When Keaton had originally hired her to exterminate the xenomorphs, he had told her that there were unique energy readings coming from the planet that he had only seen coming from three places: Zebes, Talon IV, and Samus herself. The non-human part of her anyway. In the confusion of Hector running off to Daiban and Adam's ship exploding, she had all but forgotten about the energy readings. Keaton had implied that her "ancestors" must have had a settlement there at one point, but Samus could not recall ever hearing about any Chozo settlements on a moon of Calpamos. Then again, there were a lot of things she had not known about the Chozo even if she was the heir apparent to their legacy.

It was a strange thought. She had not even seen a Chozo in nearly twenty years unless she counted a few of the phazon-maddened ghosts she had fought on Talon IV. She still considered herself a Chozo in many ways, but when she really thought about it, she had only spent eleven years amongst the Chozo, only about a third of her life. And yet here she was, still carrying out the will of a long-dead species. Not that she would ever complain about it. The Chozo had been very kind to her, and she owed them her life. Certainly one could debate about the ethics of how they had taken a three year old orphan human girl and engineered her into a genetically enhanced bioweapon, but they way she saw it, a lot of good had come from the gifts they had given her.

Adam, on the other hand, had always been a stanch opponent of bioweapons, and while he had never said anything outright, Samus knew he had not approved of what the Chozo had done to her. As she started the landing sequence she could not helping thinking about how similar Adam could be to some of the Chozo she had known, even if their viewpoints on bioweapons research varied drastically. Perhaps, she wondered, there was some connection there. The General had always been strongly outspoken against bioweapons, and so had Keaton. She was not sure what Secretary of Defense Green's stance was on bioweapons research, and she wondered if he was all for it.

It had been a very polarizing issue in the government during the Space Pirate War, and although Samus's memories were fuzzy on what happened after the war, she thought she recalled the issue exploding in the media at one point. She felt like a conspiracy nut wondering if Green had purposefully sent Adam on that mission and planted a bomb in his ship to eliminate his opposition. She sighed. She already had a reputation among the Fed's higher-ups for not being the picture of sanity, so she decided to keep that idea to herself for a while. It was more likely a malfunction of something in the ship itself or one of the hostiles on the ground had shot them down.

_Those are the sorts of ideas rational people have,_  she thought to herself bitterly as she flew over the moon and surveyed its surface. The terraformer colony must have been on the other side, she reasoned, as where she was resembled only a dead rock. She flew for a while, looking for any sign of civilization. At one point, she thought she spotted a wrecked ship, and her heart froze for a second thinking it was Adam, but she quickly realized the ship was ancient and had likely been on the surface for centuries as it was partially submerged into the ground. She did not recognize its origin.

The moon was not very large so it did not take her long to find the terraformer colony, or what was left of it anyway. Seeing the twisted metal of destroyed and burned-out buildings and the mountains of debris everywhere was not easy for her. In all her years of doing what she did, nothing was ever more mentally exhausting for her than searching for survivors in destroyed colonies. It was very personal for her, too personal. Adam used to tell her she should decline those sorts of missions because of how they affected her, but she always took them and always spent way more time than she should have overturning every stone and scouring every nook and cranny. After a while, he stopped telling her to decline them and instead would just try to be there when she returned. He would try to pretend his visits were not related, but she knew. The man spent way too much time worrying about her physical and mental well being and not enough time worrying about his own.

Scanning the immediate vicinity and not seeing any signs of life, Samus went about searching for somewhere to land. She wanted somewhere close enough that she would be able to get to the colony's remains easily but far enough away that Hector would be safe from whatever those xenomorph things were. While she didn't know anything about their feeding habits, she figured that, as hunters, they would want to be somewhere close to their prey. And the dilapidated structures of the destroyed colony would make excellent places to hide.

She ended up landing her ship in a relatively barren area in the dead rock part of the moon. Hector had been waiting for her in the cabin the whole time, and once the ship landed, she left the cockpit and joined him in the tiny living space. The boy was sitting on her small couch with the huge, wolfish dog, and to her surprise, they were not watching the holoscreen.

"We're here?" Hector asked, his face blank. He was trying to hide his nervousness but he was pale, and Samus could see right through his façade.

"We're here," the mercenary replied.

"Smooth landing. I didn't even notice."

Samus smiled. His first landing on a foreign planet had been on a commercial flight, and those were not known for comfort. She suspected he had gotten sick to his stomach on that flight.

Not sure what else to say, Samus walked up to her son, and he stood as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the forehead.

"And you stay put this time," she said as she squeezed him tighter. "Don't you get anymore ideas about coming after me." Turning to the dog she added, "And don't forget to feed Archer while I'm gone. I'm not sure how long this is going to take."

"No problem," the boy said with a forced grin. Samus could tell he was wondering if he would ever see her again because she was wondering the same thing. While she always intended to come home from her missions, she knew there was always the very real possibility that she wouldn't.

Reluctantly, she pulled away from their hug after a few seconds and headed toward the hatch that led to her medical bay and exit hatch. As she walked, she could feel her son's eyes on her back until she disappeared from sight. Alone in the cold, steel medical bay, she reached under the collar of her jumpsuit and pulled out a heavy disk that was chained to her neck. It looked like a metallic circle with an "S"-shaped lightning bolt going through it. As she held the disk, her body began to glow with an orange light, and within seconds her legendary orange and gold armor enveloped her body. Where a human woman once stood, now stood the nearly seven-foot tall armored cyborg that was so recognizable throughout the galaxy. A red helmet with a green visor protected her face and head, but the suit's true purpose as an offensive tool of war was made obvious by the massive cannon that replaced her right arm below the elbow.

Now that she was in the armor, Samus's demeanor shifted entirely. No longer was she the woman who had hugged and kissed her son goodbye in the other room. Now she was the genetically enhanced super soldier and the Hunter. And she was ready to go after her prey.

 


	4. Nightfall

**Chapter 3: Nightfall**

Under ideal conditions, Ripley would have seen the ship explode early in the morning so that she and Vasquez would have the maximum number of hours possible to search for survivors before night fell. However, things in real life rarely happened under ideal circumstances, and from what Ripley could tell, there was not much daylight left. Perhaps an hour or so.

Rotational cycles on the moon seemed to last about twenty standard hours, and that had been one of the factors that made it so attractive for Earth Humans to colonize twenty years ago. At least, that was what she had been told when she had agreed to accompany the Colonial Marines as their civilian advisor on this mission. She had not been around for that or for the events leading up to it. Up until last year, she had been stuck in cryosleep for about fifty-seven standard years, the only survivor of the USCSS  _Nostromo_ , where she had been working as a flight officer for one of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation's operations. Unlike Vasquez and the others, she had no real military experience, but she was the only person known to have had any real life interaction with the creatures they had dubbed "xenomorphs." That real life interaction, however, had been nothing more than escaping from a ship where the rest of the crew was slaughtered by a single xeno that had stowed away in the chest cavity of one of the ship's executive officers.

In the end, Ripley had detonated the  _Nostromo's_  self-destruct sequence and escaped in a light shuttle. Unbeknownst to her, though, the rogue xeno had boarded the shuttle before she had, and for the first time she got a full look at the creature's repulsive form, the same form that still haunted her in her sleep and frequently woke her in cold sweats. Somehow, she had managed to survive by sucking the creature through an airlock and sending it out into space. That was when she entered her ill-fated cryosleep, a sleep from which she did not awaken for fifty-seven years.

The galaxy had moved on quite a lot in that time.

Ripley could not help but reflect on how different the world had become since the  _Nostromo_  as she and Vasquez quietly traversed the crumbling ruins of the mining colony. Only the child, Newt, really knew how to get through the remains of Hadley's Hope quickly and safely, but Ripley was not about to risk having the girl out with her after dark, when the creatures were the most active. That little girl had been the only survivor out of the colony's 158 inhabitants, and she knew exactly how to travel to every corner of the colony through the ventilation system. Unfortunately, the child was also the only one who fit through most of the vents, so Ripley and Vasquez did not have that convenience as they headed in the direction in which they had seen part of the ship fly.

They decided to head in the direction of the cockpit first. While the piece that had broken off the back was larger, Vasquez had pointed out that most Federation military ships kept their master ejection controls in the front of the ship. Other sections could break off individually, but two parts breaking off simultaneously suggested that someone had been at the master controls and therefore would be the most likely to still be alive at this point.

They walked as quietly and quickly as they could through what were once streets, taking care to avoid turning an ankle on any of the various chucks of former infrastructure. It was eerily silent unless the monsters were around. When they could hear them, at least they knew of their location, but in the early dusk of evening, every building was dark and still. There was only the hushed steps and soft breathing of the women, occasionally punctuated by the sound of Vasquez messing with her pulse rifle.

The younger woman had been itching to go out on a run and actually seemed eager to encounter the aliens. Although she seemed a bit trigger happy, Ripley was secretly amazed by her companion's response to the creatures. Since waking from her decades-long sleep, Ripley had wanted nothing more than to never have to see or talk about these creatures again. For the past year, she had been fighting to get her life to return to some semblance of normalcy, but Vasquez was different. She didn't want to escape from danger. She wanted to take it head-on and conquer it.

Past the outskirts of the colony, there was nothing but a vast desert. At least, it looked like a desert. Course sand stretched as far as the eye could see, and chucks of rock strewn everywhere made it treacherous to walk across, but that was where the two women needed to go. In the distance, there were tall sedimentary rock formations, and Ripley wondered if water had once run through this part of the moon. It was getting colder now, and the setting sun cast long, orange-tinged shadows that made it difficult to see exactly where one was stepping. Ripley and Vasquez knew they had to hurry. Even if they turned back now, they would not make it back to the bunker before nightfall.

"That it?" Vasquez asked suddenly, shaking Ripley from her thoughts. The younger woman pointed to a shadowed form in the distance that only her trained eyes had noticed.

"Not sure." After searching for a moment, Ripley also saw the object at which her companion was pointing. "But it's the only thing out here, so we might as well check it out."

As they approached the large, mysterious object, it became increasingly obvious that it was, in fact, part of a ship. Once they were close enough, they could see it was clearly a cockpit and picked up their pace. The sun was getting low now, low enough that the creatures would already be active. While they moved quickly, they also moved with caution, Vasquez holding her rifle ready to shoot.

The cockpit was in ruins, and Ripley wondered if anyone could have really survived the crash. The back wall had been torn through at some point, and the ship's nose sunk into the ground. Carefully, she and Vasquez shone their flashlights in through the hole in the back wall and proceeded through once everything looked clear.

The first thing they heard as they stepped into the cockpit was the cocking of a gun.

"Who's there?" A man's voice called out. It was deep and hoarse, and he sounded more angry than frightened.

"Flight Officer Ellen Ripley," Ripley replied, "and Private First Class Jenette Vasquez. We saw your ship crash out here and came to help."

The man was silent as they continued forward. He came into view once both women were fully inside the remains of the ship. He seemed to be a large man, although he was hunched on one knee, still pointing his gun at them. He had dark hair flecked with gray, and he wore a decorated military officer's coat.

"Don't bother pointing that little gun at us," Vasquez scolded cockily as she pointed her pulse rifle at him. "You won't get a single round off before I fire back. Besides, we come in peace and all that shit."

"Who are you?" Ripley asked more gently as she noted the form of a second person lying behind the man. Slowly, he lowered his weapon.

"I'm General Adam Malkovich of the Galactic Federation Army," he said in a cool, even voice that seemed out of place given the scene around them. "I was sent here with a Special Ops crew to investigate the disappearance of a unit of Colonial Marines."

"Well," Vasquez replied, "you're looking at about half of what's alive of that group." Then she snickered. "Although I don't know if we should really count Gorman or that synthetic."

The General's face remained impassive as he processed what she said. "So four survivors total. And none of the colonists?"

"There's one little girl." Ripley took a step forward as she tried to get a better look at the body behind General Malkovich. "Rebecca Jorden, one of the colonists."

"But she just goes by 'Newt' for some reason," Vasquez added as she relaxed her stance.

"Who's that behind you?" Ripley asked, kneeling beside the General.

He grimaced as he turned and looked over his shoulder. "That's Dr. Grey. She was the physician and exotic alien species expert traveling with us."

"She dead?" Vasquez asked, looking bored as she glanced back over her shoulder to the exit.

"No." The General's tone was firm, clearly showing his annoyance with her flippant attitude. "She's just unconscious. I think she hit her head so I haven't moved her."

"Well, we're going to have to move her, head injury or not." Ripley crawled quietly over to the body and felt her neck for a pulse. Dr. Grey was a young woman, probably in her late twenties, and her slender, almost frail figure looked terribly out of place in the hostile world. "Can you walk, General?"

"I think so." He looked over to the doctor. "But I can't carry her right now."

"Shit," Vasquez grinned, walking over to where Ripley knelt beside the body. "I can carry that skinny little thing no problem. And you and Ripley got guns too, so we'll be good to head back to base."

Ripley stood and helped the General to his feet. He was clearly injured and less than steady on his feet, but he also seemed determined and like the type of person who would never let anyone see any weakness. She hoped it was more than just a tough display and that attitude would carry him at least as far as the bunker.

Vasquez knelt down and slung the unconscious doctor over her shoulder like she was nothing before standing back up and readying her rifle once more. The three survivors turned to look at the hole in the back of the ship. No more sunlight came through. Night had fallen on this part of the moon, and they still had a good five kilometers to walk back.

* * *

When Samus stepped off of her ship and onto the moon's surface, the sun was already setting, and darkness had fallen over much of the land. She felt a tinge of anxiety walking away from the ship that housed her son, but she also knew she had installed the strongest energy shielding in the known universe, and he was as safe there as he could ever be on a foreign planet.

A vast expanse of rocky sand stretched before her, and it reminded her of many planets she had visited in the past, planets that had been deemed unfit to hold any life, human or otherwise. It seemed like a terribly strange place for Earth humans to colonize. Even her homeworld of K-2L had contained flora and fauna similar to what she had discovered on Earth a month ago. Either humans had terribly lowered their standards for colonizing planets, or there was something valuable here below the surface. She frowned as she wondered if this had once been a mining colony and if it was, how that might play into whatever bizarre power struggle had led to Adam being sent here without the knowledge of Chairman Keaton.

The suit scanned the area as she continued walking away from her ship. There were two areas showing energy signatures that matched that of Galactic Federation ships, but they were about ten kilometers away from each other. Not sure why there were two separate signatures, and with no way to tell what either of them were, Samus picked the one closest to her and started off in that direction. The bounty hunter did not bother to try to muffle the sound of her heavy metal boots on the rocky surface. The treacherous terrain posed no issues for her as she trampled the rocks straight into the sand.

After her last battle on Earth, many of her suit's systems had been knocked offline including many of its weapons. However, as she had recuperated from that fight, she had not had access to a proper energy source and had instead opted to cut her own life energy to "heal" the biological components of her power suit. As a result, weapons systems were back up to about 85% capacity, and she had been able to use her ship's systems to refill her bomb and missile ammo. The only systems that remained offline still were the Screw Attack, Space Jump, and Gravity Suit, but those three had always been temperamental to begin with. However, with Zebes destroyed, she was not sure where she would be able to find the proper Chozo technology to help get them back online.

It didn't matter to Samus once it got dark. Her enhanced genetics already gave her exceptional night vision, and she was used to exploring dark places. Occasionally she would switch between her combat and thermal visors to see if there were any creatures hiding nearby, but there never appeared to be any.

It must have taken her an hour on foot before she came to what appeared to be a chunk of a Federation ship. She scanned the structure for information.

_Federation Army Special Ops. Battle Ship 24601_

_"Kitty Hawk"_

_Ship appears to have been destroyed by an explosion from within. Traces of fuel gel suggest arson. This piece was the sleeping quarters of the ship's crew and appears to have been ejected from the main structure before impact with the ground._

Samus's heart raced, and she knew what she needed to do next. Reminding herself that Adam had likely been at the controls at the front of the ship instead of in the sleeping quarters, she switched to her thermal visor and searched for any signs of life. However, there appeared to be no real differences in temperature anywhere within the structure, and she knew what that meant.

Still, even if there were no survivors, it made sense for her to take stock of the dead. There were no openings large enough for her to walk through, so she rolled into her morphball form and laid a bomb beside a part that appeared damaged. As expected, the area crumbled and she was free to roll inside. She bombed her way through damaged walls and insulated structures until she made it into an air vent, which she used to gain access to the main part of the cabin, pausing only for a moment to study a strange sort of slime in the vent.

As she dropped into the cabin, she unrolled back into her regular form and quietly surveyed it. Briefly whispering something in Chozo, she looked over the bodies at her feet and knelt to shut the eyes of a young man whose name she would never know. The cryogenic sleeping pods had all been smashed with falling debris in the crash, and much of the cabin was burned as if the flames from the explosion had spread into it before it was ever detached. It had been a long time since Samus had done any work with an army unit, and she had not realized as she had gotten older how young most of the soldiers were, many of them only a few years older than her son. She quietly circled the sleeping pods, many of which had become coffins now. She looked at every face, internally feeling both saddened for the young victims and relief that none of them were Adam.

She was so engrossed in thought that she almost did not hear the sound coming from the air vent behind her. With super human speed, the mercenary spun around and fired a missile straight into the form of the black creature that was lunging at her. It screamed in pain as the missile made impact, and what appeared to be a green blood dripped from its wound and burned a hole into the ground. The creature moved too quickly for Samus to see clearly, but she could tell it was at least twice her size as it disappeared back into the ventilation shaft, its long barbed tail making it appear to slither away.

But Samus knew it wasn't slithering. It had limbs of some sort, and it's whole body appeared almost skeletal and covered in something shiny, hard, and black. For a split second, an image of Ridley had flashed before her eyes, but the creature did not have wings, and when she switched to her thermal visor, she still could not see where it had gone. Not missing a beat, however, the bounty hunter switched to her x-ray visor instead and watched it's strange, spiny form crawl away through the vent. Rolling back into a ball, she pursued it through the cooling system, following its trail of slime. It must have still been bleeding because small holes had been burned in the vent shafts similar to the ones that had burned through the floor.

Samus did not know what kind of acid it was, but her Varia suit protected her from most forms of acid, so she was not concerned. The only thing that bothered her was that she was now pursuing it more or less blindly since her x-ray visor could not be used in morphball form. That proved to be a foolish move on her part as she came to another opening and rolled through it, landing back in the crew's sleeping quarters.

However, instead of one of the black aliens, there were now four surrounding her. They stood their full heights, and she could see their long, faceless heads atop grotesque skeletal bodies. Spines protruded from their backs and down along the lengths of tails with razor sharp barbs at the tips. The three new ones were larger than the one Samus had injured, and as she took a step backward, the largest of the group reared forward and roared at her, a second smaller mouth snaking out of the first and screaming as well.

Dodging to the side as the largest alien charged at her, Samus fired a missile at it. However, she only dodged at the last second, and as the missile hit, the acidic blood sprayed all over the bounty hunter. Samus screamed as her body burned and she watched her energy tanks take a significant hit. She barely had enough time to dodge the sharp tail of a second alien trying to impale her where the first one's blood had weakened her armor.

Noting that they seemed to be working as a team, Samus rolled back into her ball for and boosted away from the fray as quickly as she could. As she unrolled, she fired a charged shot at one of them, but it bounced off the shiny exterior. The ice beam was too slow for the agile creatures, so as they turned to rush her once more, she switched to her plasma beam and rapid-fired off three shots in succession. That seemed to do the trick as one of the mid-sized aliens screamed in pain and retreated.

Plasma had worked well, and Samus realized they must have been sensitive to the extreme heat. However, there were still four of them, and they were quick, and each time she hit one she risked taking damage from their acidic blood. Remembering her scans had revealed traces of fuel gel earlier, Samus immediately rolled into a ball and boosted toward the group of aliens as they rushed her. At the last moment, the bounty hunter laid a power bomb and ball-jumped back into the ventilation shaft. Throwing as much of her power behind it as she could, Samus boosted quickly away from the cabin and back outside of the ship and into the desert. Changing back into her regular form, she ran as far as she could from the ship as quickly as she could as it exploded the behind her.

There must have been more fuel gel in the ship's remains than she had suspected, because the explosion was absolutely massive as the air became engulfed in black smoke and secondary explosions rocked the site as tongues of flame ballooned up into the sky.

Only once she was far enough away did Samus turn back and scan the area behind her. None of her visors revealed that any trace of the aliens were left, and nothing suggested there were more in the area. The air was heavy with smoke and ash, and Samus was grateful for her powersuit's air supply as her lungs were still painfully sensitive to this level of smoke.

Taking a few deep breaths, Samus sat down on a boulder to rest for a moment as she watched the flames dance through the air. If there were anyone alive on this side of the moon, they would obviously be able to see the billows of black smoke rising into the sky. Though she was glad not to find Adam's corpse, she was still anxious not knowing his status, and she took a moment to process what she had seen on the remains of the ship. She wished she had gotten a chance to scan the aliens, but it had been a shoot-first-scan-later kind of battle. She was certain that they were the "xenomorphs" Keaton had spoken of, and she realized just how little she knew of the species. The only other time she had ever encountered acid powerful enough to damage the Varia suit was the acid rain of the Space Pirate Homeworld she had visited during the Phazon Crisis.

Samus rested a moment as the armor repaired itself where the acid had damaged it. It did not take long before it was back at full integrity. As the flames died down and burned themselves out, Samus stood back up and continued on to the next site that showed the energy signature of a Federation vessel.

 


	5. Swarm

Ripley could feel General Malkovich stiffen as all three of them heard the explosion in the distance. They had been walking for about half an hour, and she had been helping to support him since he had stumbled a little ways back. Vasquez stopped and looked out over the billowing smoke that glowed with the light of the orange flames. Whatever had exploded was far away from them, but Ripley knew what was going through the General's mind.

"Is that where the other part of the ship ejected to?" he asked quietly. His voice was tired and empty but still possessed its characteristic calm, and Ripley wondered how he managed to do so given the circumstances.

"It's the general direction, yes." Ripley paused to allow the two of them watch the spectacle and rest for a moment. "I can't say whether it's the exact spot or not though."

"You think there was another bomb or something on there?" Vasquez asked, shifting Portia's weight on her shoulder. Even the slender doctor was heavy after walking as far as they had.

"I don't know for certain that there was a first bomb," Adam replied, glancing at the young Marine. "I don't know what caused the initial explosion. For all I know, it could have been equipment failure."

Vasquez snorted. "Please! There's been some sketchy shit going on since we got to this rock! We got those Weyland-Yutani weirdos and their weird obsession with the bugs up here. And then we got that shit Burke tried to pull with Ripley and the kid…"

Adam glanced quizzically at Ripley. "What is she talking about? Who's Burke?"

Ripley just shook her head. "That's not important right now." She nodded over in the direction of the colony they were about to enter. "We need to be quiet and focus on getting through here without attracting any atten—"

She fell silent suddenly as all three of them saw something large and black run out of one of the buildings. Fortunately, it was far away from the four survivors, but they crouched behind a boulder as they watched its slithery form streak off through the darkness in the direction of the explosion. Ripley held her breath as they watched several more appear and scatter out of buildings like roaches as they ran off in the direction of the smoke.

"Good news for us," Vasquez whispered once they all seemed to have passed.

"Bad news for whoever set the blast," Ripley replied, seeing the look of concern on the General's face.

"We need to go after the crew," Adam said as he tried to stand up too quickly and needed to brace himself against the rock.

Ripley put her hand out to steady him. "I'm sorry, General, but not right now. You're barely able to walk. Even if you could get to your men, there's nothing you would be able to do against these things."

Vasquez nodded. "Fucking bugs would eat you alive in your condition. And that's if you're lucky."

"Would they have access to weapons that could have caused that blast, General?" Ripley asked as she slipped his arm back around her shoulders and helped him stand up straight.

"Negative." Adam shook his head. "All of the explosives would have been in the equipment bay, and not surprisingly, that's where the first explosion occurred. The only thing that ejected was the sleeping quarters, so they may have a few smaller guns but nothing heavy." He thought for a moment. "These… 'bugs,' could they have caused the explosion for some reason?"

"I doubt it," Ripley replied, glancing back one more time as they began walking once more in the direction of the bunker. "I've never seen them behave like that. They're pretty straightforward hunters. They don't use weapons."

"They don't fucking need weapons," Vasquez growled in annoyance as she shifted the doctor's weight again. "But they do have that whole hive-mind thing going on. My bet is they're drones heading out there to attack whatever set off the blast because they see it as a threat."

They all stayed quiet as they entered the ruins of the city, never standing too close to any of the buildings that might still house any aliens that had stayed behind. Ripley was on edge and could feel her heart pounding in her throat. She had not been out while it was dark since their first night on the surface, and she had been fortunate not to have any run-ins with the creatures for the past few days. Still, she knew that they could be walking into a group of them and would never know until it was too late.

The General seemed to be holding up all right given the circumstances, but Ripley had a feeling he was just going to collapse when they got back to the bunker. If they got back to the bunker. Traveling on foot had been a lot easier when it had just been her and Vasquez, but now they were weighted down with one unconscious person and one injured person. There was still a good ways to go before they would be able to rest.

During the night, everything took on a bluish tint that might have been beautiful under different circumstances. Only the orange glow of the fire in the distance provided any contrast, but once that died down the whole world was blue once more.

Ripley was exhausted by this point in the journey, but she was wired and on edge, ready for one of the creatures to jump out from behind a wall at any moment. Vasquez was even showing signs of fatigue from trying to balance carrying the doctor and her rifle. Sweat beaded around the red bandana on her forehead and ran down the sides of her face.

"Ripley," the General asked suddenly, "have you found evidence of anyone else on the planet?"

"Hmm? No. No one else. Other than the terraformers, this place is a dead rock. Why do you ask?"

The General shook his head tiredly. "I'm still trying to figure out who or what could have caused that blast."

Ripley thought for a moment, relief flooding through her when she realized how close they were to base. Even in the darkness she could recognize some of the buildings. "What about the Feds? Could they have sent someone else after you?"

Adam grimaced and stumbled as a pain shot through his back. He and Ripley took a moment for him to regain his bearings before continuing forward. "This was a hand-picked Special Operations team. I doubt the Federation would risk sending in any more troops if even we got wiped out without putting up a fight. I think they would be more likely to quarantine the whole damn moon."

Ripley nodded. "Or nuke the whole damn moon to cover it up."

"What about mercs?" Vasquez piped in suddenly. "Feds have been using mercs a lot lately. Really been pissing people off with that."

Adam paused. "That thought… it's certainly crossed my mind."

"If they're using mercenaries," Ripley grumbled in annoyance, "they'd more likely be trying to catch one of those fucking things than save our asses. I wouldn't trust any of them anymore than I would trust a synthetic."

The General chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry. You just sort of reminded me of someone else I know who doesn't trust artificial intelligences."

"Glad to know I'm not the only one." Ripley felt like she was ready to collapse when she finally saw the entryway to the building that housed the bunker. For the first time since they had set out, she felt confident that they might actually make it back to safety.

Still cautious in their movements, Ripley input the code to open the heavy steal door as Vasquez watched her back. She paused only for a moment to note the ominous telltale slime that coated part of the doorframe and silently prayed that whatever had left it there had fled toward the explosion with the others. Once the code was entered, the heavy door opened to the building's atrium, a cold structure with blue steel walls similar to those of the bunker. Ripley and Vasquez proceeded to one of the elevator shafts as they assisted the General who was breathing heavily and much more obviously in pain by this point.

"Almost there, Sir," Ripley said quietly as she pulled the two sets of doors to the elevator closed behind them. It was a crude industrial structure, the sort of shaft normally used to lead down to the mines. Once they were in, she input the code to take them down to the bunker, anxiously looking around for more signs of the slime and relieved to find none.

They got off the elevator on a subterranean level several stories underground. It was pitch dark save for the light at the end of Vasquez's pulse rifle. Ripley knelt beside the heavy metal hatch in the ground and turned the massive wheel on top in the proper combination of directions before it opened to reveal the ladder down to the bunker. It took a bit of maneuvering to get both the doctor and the General down inside, but once they managed, Ripley pulled the heavy hatch closed behind her and reset the locks.

As she looked around the cramped fall-out shelter, she felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and was happy to see the faces of Newt and Gorman. Once she propped the injured General up against a wall so he could rest, she turned to the child that ran toward her and threw her arms around her. Although Newt did not say anything, the little girl's sad eyes seemed a bit brighter as Ripley hugged her.

Off a little ways, Vasquez laid Portia's body on top of a sleeping bag. Bishop approached slowly and turned to Ripley.

"If I may assist," the android said in a voice as calm as the General's, "I can look at this woman and provide basic medical aid."

Ripley stared down the synthetic for a while, glaring daggers in a way that let him know if he turned around and hurt the unconscious doctor, she would personally rip out whatever mechanisms made him function and leave him to the xenomorphs. After a minute, however, she nodded reluctantly. Even if she did not trust him, the android had the programming to provide better medical support than any of the rest of them could. As he attended Portia, Ripley turned to the General to ascertain the extent of his injuries.

* * *

Samus impatiently fiddled with the buttons on her arm cannon as the comm system rang back in her ear. After a few tries, the person she was calling finally picked up on the other end.

"What is it, Samus?" the voice of Chairman Keaton snapped back at her in irritation.

"You don't sound too pleased to hear from your hired gun," the mercenary replied gruffly, not in the mood for the green alien's grumpy mannerisms. She was still walking toward the second site of a Federation ship's energy signature.

Keaton sighed. "I'm busy, Samus, and I can't exactly talk to you where anyone else can hear. Not with the way things are right now."

"What the hell kind of things did you send me up here to hunt, Keaton?" Samus spat, losing her patience for small talk.

"I'm not entirely certain what they are. That's why you're there instead of someone less expensive."

The hunter kept walking across the desert as it reflected the strange blue light of nightfall. "Well, whatever they are, I came across one already… four, actually. They're not like anything I've seen before, and I've probably seen more than anyone else in the galaxy."

"You're certain they were the xenomorphs?" Keaton asked, his interest suddenly piqued. "What were they like?"

"Ugly, even by my standards. Grotesque… they were like spiny walking black skeletons." The bounty hunter shuddered. "They were kind of like Ridley if he didn't have wings or skin. And they have little mouths inside of their mouths, and they bleed acid."

Keaton snorted. Acidic blood was a false stereotype that many pureblood humans used against aliens or hybrids like Samus. "Well, that shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Except that it is," Samus replied, her tone grim. "Their acid blood can break down my armor. I have no doubt that if I had taken a more direct hit, it would have eaten right through it."

Keaton was silent for a moment. He could hear the mercenary's boots on the ground even through the comm device. "That is cause for concern. We haven't seen anything like that since—"

"The Space Pirate Homeworld." Samus growled as she finished the Chairman's sentence. "Found the sleeping quarters from the Special Ops ship you had me search for. It looks like it had been ejected, and there was fuel gel all over it. Scans suggested arson. No survivors, so I blew it up."

Keaton groaned. "Why, Samus? Why do you insist on blowing up everything? Did no one ever teach you any other forms of conflict resolution?"

The bounty hunter huffed in annoyance as she scanned her surroundings. Still no signs of life. "I was trapped in there in close quarters combat with four of those things. I couldn't exactly start firing off missiles unless I wanted to get burned up. Blasted it with a powerbomb, and the fuel gel combustion made short work of those xeno-things."

"…Any sign of the General?"

"Negative," Samus replied as she paused, listening for a sound in the distance. "Look, I'm heading to investigate another part of the ship that might have ejected. I'll call you back when I know more." Samus ended the call abruptly and listened. Her hearing might not have been any better than a human's, but it was well trained, and she could hear something approaching. Perhaps a lot of things.

Figuring out the direction of the noise, Samus jumped fifteen feet onto the top of one of the rock formations. She stayed low and just far enough from the edge that she could see, but not so close that anyone coming would be able to see her well. When the creators of the sound came into view, Samus saw they were more xenomorphs, a whole pack of them. They stampeded toward her like a grotesque herd of antelope. Some paused once they were close by as though searching the air for some sign of her.

Knowing they would find her sooner or later, Samus fired a charged plasma shot at one of the largest of the creatures, and as the blast exploded into it, it reared back and screamed. In the blink an eye, dozens of the aliens were swarming Samus all at once, slithering up the rock formation with no effort at all.

Before they could get to her, however, Samus leapt away from her perch with a somersault, sending a barrage of missiles into several of their backs before she landed on the ground. A couple of them fell off, but the herd quickly changed direction. Although agile, Samus was not quite quick enough to escape before several sets of claws tore across her suit, and one of the barbed tails stabbed her in the leg. Fortunately, her armor protected her from any real damage and she was high up on another rock sending blasts of plasma at the herd.

It was clear at this point, though, that in a contest of speed, Samus stood no chance and she was badly outnumbered. As she hopped from rock to rock and fired at the creatures trying to follow her, they had gotten smart and started working as a group to guard all of the rocks until there was nowhere left for Samus to jump. Realizing her plan was quickly failing, Samus jumped to the ground once more, firing a super missile up at a xenomorph that had jumped behind her. It was nearly upon her when the super missile made contact and blew the creature clean apart.

However, Samus barely had time to dodge the attack, and a spray of acidic blood rained over her. The rest of the creatures wasted no time as the hunter fell to one knee in pain and was met with a barrage of claws. As one of their barbed tails tore through her armor, a warning flashed that morphball functionality had been disabled due to a breach in the suit. Anywhere the acid had hit was a weak patch in the armor, and several well-aimed claws shuddered it like paper.

Adrenaline surged through Samus as she saw her energy reserves dropping rapidly and knew she had to break away from the melee. Throwing as much energy as she could behind it, she charged up a plasma shot and fired it with a barrage of missiles, creating an explosive flamethrower effect. As she spun around 360 degrees, firing at the aliens, she could hear their screams. Past her flames, she could see several of them on fire writhing in pain on the cold sandy ground as those that were uninjured quickly began to retreat.

Samus attacked mercilessly, firing plasma shots repeatedly on the disabled xenomorphs whose smoldering bodies littered the ground at her feet. Fortunately for her, the plasma shots cauterized the wounds they left, and she was spared from any more of the acid blood. She did not stop firing until all of the healthy xenomorphs had retreated far out of sight and the ones on the ground were dead several times over. Only then did the injured bounty hunter collapse onto one knee to catch her breath.

She was in pain, and she burned all over her body where the acid had struck her armor, even where it had not eaten through. As she looked down at the ground and panted, she could see her own blood running down her leg and sides, the blue light casting it to almost a purple color as embers from the charred alien bodies crackled and jumped to her feet. She knew that had been a close call, and she was just thankful the remaining aliens had scattered when she had unleashed the flamethrower function. The only problem was that it expended missiles like crazy, and she would have to be careful using it when she encountered the creatures again.

Getting to her feet, Samus counted six bodies and took a moment to scan them. Surprisingly, her suit pulled a previous log entry on the beasts, and Samus decided to save that reading for once she got to somewhere safer. While she had never personally encountered these creatures before, it was not unusual for her suit to pull up log data from creatures the Chozo had recorded long before her time.

Quietly, she looked around before kneeling beside one of the bodies. There was another odd quirk her armor possessed: the ability to gather drained life energy from recently slaughtered creatures. It was a function almost nobody knew about, and as she charged a normal beam shot, it pulled in trace amounts of energy from the creatures around her, just enough to fill up part of one of her drained energy tanks.

It was strange how after all these years, this aspect of her powers still made her uncomfortable. When she had told Adam about it, she knew he saw it the same way she did. It was metroid-like, and that only made sense given that she and the metroids were both bioweaponized life forms created by the same alien race. The biggest difference was that while the metroids had been created from nothing, Samus had been born a human once and engineered into a weapon when she was only a toddler.

When Samus collected all of the stray energy she could, she stood up once more. She was still bleeding, and her body still burned, but the tears in her armor were repairing themselves, and the energy shielding was a bit stronger. Ignoring her wounds, the bounty hunter shrugged off the pain and continued on to her destination as though nothing had happened, leaving the charred bodies in her dust.

 


	6. Where Do We Go From Here?

**Chapter 5: Where Do We Go From Here?**

Night was always tense down in the bunker. Even if none of the creatures had managed to break in yet, everyone knew it was possible. So far, they seemed to be capable of anything, and everyone was acutely aware of the dwindling supply reserves and that there was no way to know if one of them sat on the other side of the heavy hatch in the ceiling any time they needed to leave.

Ripley had not expected to make it back form their latest run to rescue the doctor and the General from their wrecked ship. In fact, she had been certain that the moment they stepped back into the colony, one of those things would have shot out of one of the dark buildings and snatched them away to wherever they took people. Whatever had caused the xenomorphs to run out in the direction of the explosion had likely been the only thing that saved them.

She sat next to the General as she took apart and cleaned her gun. He had been quiet for the most part since they had gotten in, and it made sense given that he was clearly exhausted and in a good deal of pain. Fortunately, most of his wounds were superficial, and the worst of it was just some deep bruising. He was not exactly young, though, and his back appeared to be giving him trouble. Ripley had made him take some anti-inflammatories and a muscle-relaxer they had brought back with them from the medical supplies in the emergency box in the wrecked cockpit.

Though he was not talking, Ripley was glad for his company as they sat in an unoccupied section of the bunker. Tempers and anxieties had been running hot the past few days, and the general consensus was that they were just buying time before the creatures inevitably found and killed them since there was no way to get off the moon. More than once, someone had brought up the concept of just opting out of the whole thing, but Ripley had refused to hear it. She might have felt differently if it were not for the young girl they had found. So long as she could protect Newt, Ripley felt obligated to keep fighting for their survival.

General Malkovich's presence was a pleasant change. The man exuded such a calm and collected presence that she could see why he would be selected to lead an elite group of soldiers. However, she also thought he was a bit old to be leading a combat expedition, especially if he had some sort of pre-existing back issue.

"How are you feeling, General Malkovich?" Ripley asked quietly after a long stretch of silence. Most of the others were asleep on the far side of the bunker, and even the android Bishop appeared to be in some sort of rest mode. The General was resting, but he was clearly uncomfortable and unable to sleep.

"Better than I would be if I were still out in the cockpit," he replied, sitting up a little straighter. "Worried about Dr. Grey though. She seemed to be coming around at one point when Bishop was assessing her, but then she passed right back out."

Ripley nodded. "Kind of makes you wonder if he had anything to do with it."

Adam raised his eyebrows and looked at her inquisitively. "You really don't like artificial people, do you?"

"Nope." She stared at the android where he sat and wondered how much he could hear of their conversation. "Made that mistake once and it got the whole crew killed. It had its orders to bring back one of those aliens so the Company could study it, maybe make weapons. 'Crew expendable.' That's what the mission said. We thought we were running a simple job, and they snuck a fucking synthetic on as our science officer because they knew it would do anything to complete the mission, even if it meant killing all of us."

Adam nodded grimly. "That was the  _Nostromo_ , correct? I've read about that voyage. It was before even I was born. I can say the construction of artificial persons has gotten much better since then. There are a lot more safety nets in place to make sure they don't turn on the humans they work with."

"And you trust those safety nets?" she asked skeptically.

"Not anymore than I trust any company that attempts bioweapons research, even if the Federation ban on it was not in place back then."

Ripley nodded. "So you're one of those."

"One of what, exactly?"

"One of those techno-conservatives who thinks we shouldn't be playing gods with other life forms. A proponent of the bioweapons ban."

"I don't think it's an unreasonable stance," he replied calmly but firmly. "Living things shouldn't be tampered with like that, especially not sentient beings. There's a line, and if we cross it, who's to say how long it will be before we're taking human children and modifying them into weapons and super soldiers?"

"Point taken." Ripley sighed. "The whole galaxy's changed so much while I was asleep. The idea of making humans into super soldiers… that wasn't thought of too badly back in the day. But now you've actually got genetically altered humans and weird human-alien hybrids. It's just a much different world, and I'm still trying to make sense of it."

Adam chuckled. "You and my father would have gotten along. You're both from that generation that thought highly of enhancing human potential while protecting human purity. A lot of people believed in that until they realized it was impossible to do both. Semi-humans are a terrifying concept to a lot of people still, especially back on Earth."

"And the idea of half humans doesn't bother you? But the idea of enhanced humans does? You don't think that's a little contradictory?"

The General shook his head. "You haven't been in the galaxy long the way it is now. Semi-humans don't scare me. I've seen semi-humans do incredible things regardless of their classifications, and I've known pure humans who were absolute monsters. As for enhanced humans… I have nothing against them as people. But I think they should only get slight enhancements and only when they are old enough to make that decision for themselves unless it's something needed to save their life…" He paused for a moment as he adjusted his position. "I have dear friend I've known for many years. She was taken as a child and engineered into a sentient weapon by an alien race that did not consider themselves beholden to Federation law. They basically mutilated her, cracking open her skull to install electrodes in her brain, splicing the very genes in her cells…"

Ripley raised her eyebrows. "And no one did anything to stop this?"

Adam shrugged. "No one knew."

"What happened to her?"

"She's still around. She takes private military contracts and hunts intergalactic fugitives. Well suited to the jobs she does, but the nature of what she is makes it almost impossible to have a life outside of that."

Ripley nodded quietly as she took it all in. "I don't think I could ever trust a creature like that."

"You wouldn't be alone there," the General replied. "And that's part of what makes it impossible for her to have much of a life. People fear the unknown. Beta-class semi-humans… your Centurian hybrids and whatnot, they're a dime a dozen. Barely anyone cares about them. But once you start getting into the gammas and deltas…" He shook his head.

"Every time I think I've got this world figured out, it just gets bigger and weirder." Ripley sighed. "Not that it really matters if we can't get off this rock."

"What happened to the ship all of you came in on?"

"Crashed. Not like yours. It's still mostly intact, very little structural damage, but it's overrun with xenomorphs, and we just don't have the firepower to—"

She stopped midsentence as someone across the room moved. Adam noticed too, and they both waited anxiously until they saw the form move again and roll over as though trying to sit up.

"Dr. Grey," Adam said as he tried to stand.

Noticing the General struggling, Ripley got up and helped him to his feet. He still seemed a little unsteady but the medicine seemed to be taking the edge off the pain. Together, they made their way over to where the doctor lay beside Bishop. The android looked up at them curiously but did not say anything as Adam and Ripley knelt beside the woman.

Portia's eyes were open and she was trying to get up, but she seemed confused by her surroundings. Placing a hand to the cut on her head, she looked around, breathing heavily and nervously until she recognized Adam's face.

"General Malkovich?" she asked weakly as Ripley and Adam helped her sit up against a wall. "W-where are we?"

"We're safe," Adam replied calmly. "The ship crashed, but we survived. There were other people here, and they've taken us into their shelter."

The young woman's eyes became wide as she looked at Adam in what appeared to be disbelief. "But the rest of the ship… it exploded, didn't it?"

Adam nodded. "I don't know what caused it, but I was able to eject us before we hit the ground."

"And the others?"

Adam shook his head. "I ejected the sleeping quarters, but I don't know if anyone else survived. Wherever they ended up was too far for us to travel tonight."

Portia nodded solemnly, processing what had just happened and trying to remember what she could of the crash.

Gesturing over to Ripley and Bishop, Adam introduced them to the doctor. "This woman is Ellen Ripley. She helped lead us back here. And this man is an artificial person named Bishop. He tended to you while you were unconscious."

The android smiled slightly at the acknowledgement but he did not say anything.

Portia blinked a few times as she studied the android. "I never would have guessed he wasn't a man." She turned back to Adam and Ripley. "So there were survivors from the Colonial Marine group?"

"You seem surprised," Adam noted.

"I guess I am," Portia replied, looking at Ripley. "What's our status now?"

"Not great," the General replied with a grimace. "We're far from the other part of the ship that ejected, and the ship they came in on is overrun with xenomorphs."

Portia's eyes grew wide again, and Adam could practically hear her heart racing. "Xenomorphs? How far are they? They can't get to us in here, can they?"

The more the doctor talked, the less Ripley thought the woman was temperamentally suited for this type of expedition. She seemed scared out of her mind, and the flight officer could not fathom why whoever had assigned these two to this mission had decided to do so. An anxious civilian doctor and an older man would not be the two she picked to come to this deathtrap.

"Excuse me?" Bishop asked suddenly as everyone's eyes turned to the android. "If I may interject… I think I might have a solution to some of our problems."

Ripley looked like she was about to snap at the synthetic, but Adam spoke first. "And what do you have in mind, Bishop?" he asked gently.

"Well," the android continued, looking between the three of them, "there is a chance your troops are still alive, and there will likely be weapons wherever they landed. I propose we go on a run to save any of your men that we can and collect any of the weapons that may have survived the crash. Then we head over to our ship and try to clear out the aliens from it so we can use it to escape."

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Adam broke the silence. "That's a risky idea, Bishop."

"I'm aware," the android replied. "The chance of success would be extremely low, but it is slightly higher than our chances if we continue on as we are."

"Staying down here just gets us killed slower," Ripley said as she thought it over. "I hate to say it, but he is right."

Adam nodded. "It's not the worst plan, and if we can get the other troops, our chance of survival certainly increases."

Ripley nodded slowly. "I'll propose it to Gorman and Vasquez in the morning. It might be our only chance, but we need you and the doctor to heal up a bit first I think."

"Agreed," Adam replied. "But as soon as we can, we need to get to the other part of that ship and see who and what we can salvage."

* * *

Samus moved a bit slower after her encounter with the xenomorph swarm. Structural damage to her powersuit had caused problems with some of the hydraulics systems making it heavier for her to wear. But as the night went on and she traveled toward where the cockpit of the  _Kitty Hawk_  had flown, the suit repaired itself and she could feel it becoming lighter and more integrated with her body once more. By the time she received a notification informing her that the morphball functionality was back online, most of the wounds on her body had fully closed up as well. A rapid healing time was another one of the abilities the Chozo had instilled in her. That made it all the more frustrating, however, that the damage to her lungs from her recent battle on Earth had never fully healed. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been when she had been coughing up blood and black soot after inhaling large amounts of smoke trying to escape from the site of a massive explosion. Still, she had found herself a little short of breath after her fight with the xeno swarm, and even now she felt like she was breathing less than optimally.

It did not matter though, she reasoned as she continued walking across the barren, rocky expanse of LV-426. The powersuit protected her from breathing bad air, and the only things that seemed to set off her bad breathing attacks were smoke and pollution. It just worried her that there might be a good deal of scar tissue within her lungs, and that's why she was not recovering completely. As the many scars across her body could attest, she was prone to scarring, and even her Chozo DNA did not protect her from its effects.

But a little shortness of breath hardly meant anything to the hunter, and she was ready and able to fight if any other creatures should come her way. Fully in her battle mindset, her edge was at its sharpest, and her senses were at their peaks. She was ready to fire at anything that even resembled a threat.

Moving slowly, however, it took her most of the remaining night to come across the cockpit, and she might have missed it had it not been for the readout on her HUD. The wreckage was catastrophic, and a few quick scans let her know that several aliens had already been there and ransacked the place. She could tell by the claw marks in the steel and the trails of slime. However, her x-ray visor let her know there were no more of the creatures currently in the area, and she wondered if they had become part of the swarm that attacked her earlier. And what had become of that swarm once it had retreated.

She knew there would be no survivors in the cockpit. That much was obvious before she ever went inside, but she was glad that she did not find their bodies once she did. At this point, she was starting to feel like it was inevitable that she would not find Adam or if she found him, that he would be a corpse. Still, she gave no outward of sign of the despair that was starting to creep through her mind as she stepped in and explored the remains of the cockpit.

It was every bit as much of a mess inside as it was outside, and she could detect traces of human blood on the walls and the controls. She could feel a sharp pain in her chest as she looked about, seeing no signs of life, and she was about to give up when she noticed the long, red emergency box. Curiously, she walked over to where it sat beside a broken co-pilot's chair and a pile of debris. There was no slime on it, and there was no sign that it had been forcibly opened at any point. Holding her breath, she opened it and examined the contents.

At first glance, it just looked like a standard emergency box, but Samus knew the make-up of such boxes well enough that she knew exactly what was missing from the inventory. The radio transmitter was out of place, and fiddling with it for a minute let her know it was broken and intentionally cast to the side. Most of the medical supplies, however, were gone, as were a couple of the flare guns, the rope, and a few of the other basic survival items. The MRE's were gone as well, and Samus could feel a renewed hope well up in her.

Clearly, someone human had taken what they thought they would need and left the rest of the heavy box behind. And whoever it was had fled the cockpit before the aliens arrived, possibly with somewhere safer in mind.

She knew that there was a good chance that whoever the survivor or survivors were had been killed already by the aliens, but she tried to keep up hope. Perhaps, the swarm that had attacked her contained most of the creatures from the area, and if that was the case, hopefully her battle had bought them some time to escape. She had no way of knowing, of course, but she chose, for the moment, to believe that her friend was still alive somewhere.

As she closed the box and kicked it to the side, she turned in the direction of the colony. If Adam were looking for somewhere to run, he would likely go there. There was nowhere else in this wasteland to find food or shelter.

She was just starting to walk in the direction of the city when a message flickered and appeared on her HUD.

_Chozo technology detected. Uploading coordinate data to map._


	7. Bounty Hunter

**Chapter 6: Bounty Hunter**

Samus stared at her HUD in disbelief. She remembered Keaton mentioning something about Chozo energy signatures on this moon, but she had not expected them to be so strong her suit reacted to them. It put her in an odd predicament. Usually, if she received any sign that Chozo technology was nearby, she would head toward it immediately, but in this case she knew she had to find Adam and any other survivors first.

Fortunately, finding people was her specialty, and it didn't take an expert bounty hunter to figure out that humans left footprints in a sandy desert. The interesting part, however, was not simply the sets of footprints leading away from the abandoned cockpit, but also the ones heading toward it. From what she could tell, three of the xenomorph beasts had been here already and left, but it appeared that two humans had also walked here at some point. More interestingly, there were three sets of human footprints leading away, the newest set of footprints slightly larger than the other two. Samus took it as a sign that two women had likely been the ones to approach, and the one who walked away with them was a man, although he seemed to be walking with an unsteady gait. Whoever he was, he was very likely injured.

While it was a relief to think that a man had survived the cockpit crash, Samus had to reign in her excitement. The odds that the man was Adam were very good given that he was leading the expedition and would most likely have been the one in the cockpit.

Samus glanced at her map to see where the Chozo energy signature was, but it seemed too far off from the direction in which the footprints were headed. Not surprisingly, they seemed to go toward the colony. Her initial impression had been correct. Scans indicated the colony was roughly five kilometers away, but that did not matter to her. She may have been walking all night, but she was not fatigued in the slightest. Missions frequently forced her to go days without rest, and fortunately, neither of her encounters with the xenos had lasted very long.

As it always did while on the hunt, Samus's mind slipped into a very predatory state. Dangerous though they might have been, the xenomorphs did not scare Samus. Fear was not an option at the moment, and her whole mind shifted into a single focus. Find survivors. Kill hostiles. There was nothing in between as the hunter followed the trail of human steps, her senses razor sharp like an animal's. Every ounce of anxious uncertainty she possessed in her civilian life dissipated and gave way to a nearly robotic level of confidence and focus. This was who she was, she had always told herself. This was literally what she had been built for. She had been masterfully crafted into a predator through a life that had been forged in endless violence. Levels of violence that she alone had survived.

If she had bothered to think about it, she would likely have been disturbed how different Samus the Hunter was from the woman who had kissed her son goodbye only hours before. Most people in her life would not have recognized her demeanor. Only her enemies knew this side of her, a side that had aptly earned her the title of "The Hunter" amongst the Space Pirates.

Looking through her x-ray visor as she traveled, Samus would occasionally see a lone xenomorph, and she did not hesitate in sending rapid shots from her plasma beam its way. At a distance, Samus had an incredible advantage as the projectile specialist that she was. Although a few of the creatures managed to scamper away, a couple were too badly burned by her initial shots and succumbed to the eventual charged shots she would finish them with, collecting energy from their slain bodies as she continued on her way. It was almost too simple, as though the few lone creatures she encountered were mere drones practically baiting her to destroy them. The ease with which they were dispatched worried her more than anything else, and she knew she would be in real trouble if they decided to swarm again.

She had encountered creatures that functioned in sorts of hive mind fashions before, and she had the ominous feeling that these lone creatures were scouts collecting information on her. The ones who managed to escape would be able to report back to the hive, but as for the ones she had killed, she did not know what to make of those. Knowing better than to underestimate an enemy's intelligence based on appearance alone, she wondered if the corpses she left behind were samples they would study to try to learn about her methodology. Deciding it was better not to leave that evidence behind, Samus took to incinerating the bodies with her plasma beam before continuing on her way. Better to assume they were as least as intelligent as she was and take every precaution necessary.

The sun was rising by the time she finally arrived at the colony, and an orange light flooded through the city, reflecting off the windows of the buildings. It had a certain golden iridescence to it that was different than the sunrises on Earth had been, and Samus supposed it could have been pretty under better circumstances. X-ray scans of the nearby buildings did not show any signs of alien life, and Samus wondered where the grotesque creatures scampered off to during the day. Whatever they did, it felt like they were planning something.

While it was good to know she had reached the city and likely would not be encountering any creatures during the daylight hours, it posed a new challenge for Samus. The crumbling ruins may have been strewn with rubble, but there were no more footprints to follow. The trail went cold as soon as she stepped into the once populated area.

* * *

"Shut up, Gorman," Vasquez huffed in irritation. "I really can't see how you thinking sitting around down here waiting for the rest of us to be killed is any better than trying to do something about it!"

The former commanding officer did not say anything as he stared back at the angry woman. While he understood her sentiment, he found himself erring on the side of caution lately, particularly given how his inexperience and faulty confidence had gotten many of the original crew members killed already.

"Look," Ripley said quietly, glancing back and forth between Gorman and Vasquez as Newt stood silently by her side. "You both make good points. We'd be stronger as a group if we had the doctor and the General with us, but we don't know how long it's going to take for them to recover enough to go on this run. So I think Vasquez is right and maybe we should do this part now, before they heal up. We're low on ammo, and it's only a matter of time before one of those aliens finds a way down here."

The four humans stood huddled in one corner of the bunker as they discussed their plans, Adam and Portia asleep on the far side. Bishop stood close to the group of four, listening wordlessly.

"Even if we find the other half of their ship," Gorman continued, only addressing Ripley, "there's no telling what we're going to find. There may be men alive, but there may also be men with those things growing inside of them, and if we bring them back here, all of our lives are in jeopardy."

"I understand that, Lieutenant," Ripley replied firmly, "but I think that objection went out the window the moment we decided to bring General Malkovich and Dr. Grey back here. Either one of them could contain one of those things too, but they're human beings who came to rescue us, and we owe them a chance at survival. Besides, even if we don't find anyone, that ship will likely have guns, and we need more guns."

"So we're going?" Vasquez asked impatiently, glaring at Gorman once again.

Eventually, the man sighed and relented. "Fine. But someone needs to stay behind with those two." He gestured to where Adam and Portia slept.

"I vote for Bishop," Vasquez said. "If one of them does have a bug in them, it won't do much to him."

"What about Newt?" Ripley asked apprehensively. "I don't like the idea of leaving her alone with that synthetic."

Vasquez looked down at the kid and raised an eyebrow. "Why not bring her? Shit, that little kid's already shown she's the most capable survivor here."

The little girl stared up at Vasquez, her eyes wide as she turned to Ripley. "It's true," she said quietly. "I can escape easiest if something happens."

Ripley stared at the child for a long time before she reluctantly nodded. "Fine. Newt comes with the three of us, and Bishop stays here with the other two."

"Are you all right with that, Bishop?" Gorman asked as he turned to the android.

"Affirmative," Bishop replied. "I'll see that no harm comes to either of them."

Drawing her Model 39 sidearm, Vasquez offered the handle of the weapon to the android who took it tentatively. "Make sure no one fucks with them while we're gone, Bishop. I doubt the old man and the good doctor are in any shape to defend themselves right now."

Bishop stared at the woman as she picked up her pulse rifle and slung its strap around her body. He did not say anything, although he silently reflected on the significance of what she had just done. Gorman pulled his sidearm from his holster and looked it over before holstering it once more as Ripley picked up a flamethrower and glanced over at the group.

"I guess we're as ready as we'll ever be," the flight officer said, looking between the other four.

"Let's roll!" Vasquez shouted, a bit too enthusiastically, but she quickly bit her tongue when she saw the doctor start to stir. Fortunately, Portia simply rolled over and did not wake up.

As quietly as they could, the four humans made their way up out of the hatch as the android closed it behind them. Only Gorman looked back anxiously as they headed over to the elevator, Ripley taking the lead.

It was morning by the time they reached the moon's surface and stepped out of the mining shaft. Golden sunlight reflected off of the buildings. Newt smiled as she felt its warm glow on her face, tired of being trapped below ground in the darkness. Though no one was really sure in what direction the back of the space ship had flown, Ripley had a good general idea. It was in the same direction as the explosion the night before, and she knew there would be trails left in the sand by the xenomorphs that had run toward the blast. She only hoped that they were gone by now. Their rag tag little team was no match for even one of the creatures.

Ripley took the lead on their expedition through the city. It seemed unusual to her that a civilian should be leading, but at the same time it felt natural to the flight officer. Newt followed close behind like a little shadow, and Vasquez followed right behind her, pulse rifle raised and ready for action. Gorman took up the rear, constantly checking their six for anything that might be stalking them. Most of their trip through the desolate city was uneventful as the creatures usually came out at night, but they all knew that was not always the case.

Ripley could see the desert coming into view just ahead, and as she focused, she was certain she could see trails left in the sand. She picked up her pace, relief flooding through her that they had made it through the city without incident, but then suddenly from behind, she heard a piercing scream.

"Ripley!" Newt's little voice cried out at the same time Ripley could hear Vasquez's pulse rifle firing off.

Ripley turned around as quickly as she could, only in time to see skeletal black arms snatching the child and pulling her into one of the dark buildings. Adrenaline kicked in as she ran forward, flamethrower at the ready as she followed the creature into the building, Newt's cries echoing through the empty lobby. Just as she was about to fire, several blasts flew from behind her and hit the creature square in the face. The bursts of light from the pulse rifle blasts briefly illuminated the hideous eight-foot form of the spiny, skeletal monster. Newt screamed as it dropper her from its grasp and flew toward Vasquez.

With an inhuman roar, it raised one of its arms and slashed across the young Marine's body, throwing the woman to the side like she was nothing. It leaned over her hungrily, its foul maw opening the reveal the second, smaller mouth that came out from it and screeched. It was about to finish off the unconscious Vasquez when a shot rang out and hit it upside the head.

Stunned for a moment, the creature regained its composure quickly as it turned to regard Gorman, his sidearm still pointed up at its head.

"You stay the fuck away from her!" he yelled and fired off another shot at the same time the creature's razor-barbed tail shot forward and ran itself through his body. The alien screamed again as his shot landed in its face once more, and it whipped its tail with such force, Gorman's impaled body flew off and slammed into a wall fifteen feet away. It hit the ground with a sickening thud and the cracking of bones.

Ripley could feel panic seizing her chest as she saw the creature turn back to Vasquez. The young Marine was slowly regaining consciousness, but not quickly enough to get away from the beast. Without even thinking about what she was doing, Ripley rushed up to the creature from behind and shot her flamethrower at it's spiny back full force. It hissed as it whipped around, the flight officer barely dodging its lethal tail.

"You want to fight with someone," she yelled as she backed up further into the building, drawing it away from Vasquez, "then fight with me, you ugly son of bitch!" As she moved backward, she shot another blast of flame at it, although this only seemed to irritate it further. Ripley was not sure what she was going to do, but as far as she cared, she was buying time for Newt and Vasquez to escape.

Turning down a hall, she led the creature even further away from the entrance to the building, shooting a blast of flame at it each time it looked like it might turn and head back for Vasquez. The plan worked well enough as the towering, grotesque beast hissed in irritation as it followed Ripley.

It was not long, however, before the flight officer found herself backed into a dead end, the only door near her locked from the other side. With her flamethrower low on fuel and the alien drawing ever closer, she held her breath and charged up the flamethrower for one last blast.

But she never got to pull the trigger. All of a sudden, a volley of long, fiery beams erupted behind the creature, all landing dead in its back and searing whatever the hard, shiny skin was that coated its body. The xenomorph screamed in agony as shot after shot seemed to melt away its form, a heavy cloud of smoke filling the narrow hallway and obscuring Ripley's view of the creature. Just as its screams reached their most agonizingly cacophonous, a massive blast of the hot plasma erupted and incinerated the remains of the creature.

Ripley thought she might pass out from the smoke and the heat that radiated off of the blast as she fell to the ground, trying to get below the smoke where the air would be coolest. For a few seconds, she could barely breathe and could not see anything but the black smoke, but a sudden explosion blasted a whole in the exterior wall, and the smoke quickly aired out of the narrow hallway.

As Ripley looked up to see what had caused the blasts, she thought she was going to have a heart attack. As the smoke cleared, the outline of a form began to appear, and as it became easier to see, Ripley could make out the massive form of some kind of armored robot. It must have stood around seven feet tall, and as the sun's golden rays came in through the hole in the wall and reflected off the armor, she could see most of its form was an orange color except for the chest plate and helmet, which were both a bright red.

The robot warrior stared expressionlessly at her through an opaque green visor as Ripley noted in place of one of its forearms, it had a large dark green cannon. "Who are you?" The being asked in a deep, highly synthesized voice as Ripley stared up at it in disbelief.

The flight officer coughed lightly as the last of the smoke cleared away, displaying only the gooey charred remains of what was once a xenomorph. "My name," she said, slowly rising up on one knee, "is Ellen Ripley. I'm a flight officer and civilian advisor to a group of Colonial Marines that was dispatched here to investigate the disappearance of the colony at Hadley's Hope."

The robotic warrior stared emotionlessly back as it evaluated her. "And were there any survivors from that coloney?"

Ripley shuddered at the toneless, synthesized voice, although she would not show her fear to the strange warrior. "Only a little girl named Rebecca Jorden. Who are you?"

The warrior tilted its helmet curiously as though genuinely surprised the woman did not know. "My name is Samus Aran. I'm a bounty hunter and private military contractor employed by the Galactic Federation Chairman to locate any survivors of the  _Kitty Hawk_  Federation Army battleship that exploded in this moon's atmosphere. Have you seen any of them?" Upon seeing Ripley's apprehension, Samus added, "I mean you no harm. I'm here on a rescue mission, and I'm looking to help."

Ripley stood slowly, eyeing the mercenary suspiciously. "W-what are you?"

Again, Samus tilted the helmet curiously. "You really don't know who I am, do you?"

Ripley shook her head.

The warrior made a sound like a sigh. "For all intents and purposes, I'm human. Now, I need to know if you have seen any of the survivors from the Army unit that was deployed here."

Still studying Samus apprehensively, Ripley nodded. "Yeah. We found two, a doctor and a General."

"A General?" Samus's synthetic voice took on a note of urgency.

"Yeah," Ripley continued, "a General Malkovich."

"Adam!" the mercenary exclaimed suddenly with an enthusiasm that shocked Ripley. "Where is he? I need you to take me to him!"

"First things first," Ripley called back, her voice regaining its firm tone. "I need to know where Vasquez and Newt are, and then we can talk about taking you to the General."

Samus stared at her quietly for a moment, or at least that's what Ripley thought the warrior was doing behind that green visor. Then the mercenary seemed to scan the walls as though able to see through them.

After a minute, Samus turned back to Ripley. "The young Marine is approaching us. She appears slightly injured but is walking all right. However, she's the only one I see."

Ripley took a step back, panic setting in. "You don't see a little girl?"

The warrior's helmet looked side to side. "No."

Ripley bit her lip as she tried to hold back her anxiety. "She must have escaped through the ventilation shafts… I need to find her."

"You need to take me to the General," Samus said firmly in that deep voice. "I need to see him. Now."

"No." Ripley shook her head. "We need to find Newt. She's a little girl. She could be killed by one of those things!"

Samus was silent for a moment as Vasquez appeared behind her down the hall. The young woman stared at the space warrior in confusion.

"Very well," Samus relented at last. "There are a series of narrow vent shafts that run through here. There have been no other hostiles in the area. If she escaped through the vents like you said, she's likely safe for a good while. Those xenomorph creatures can't fit through there. If you take me to Adam, I promise you, I will find this 'Newt' afterward and return her to you."

Ripley stared at the mercenary, looked to a very confused Vasquez, and then back up to Samus's faceless visor. "You have a deal, bounty hunter."

 


	8. Fun with Near Death Experiences

 

 _“So, essentially, you chose soup over a woman?”_ a woman on the holoscreen asked a man with curly brown hair.

The sitcom blared in the background, but Hector was not watching it. As he flipped it off, he rolled over on the couch and stared at the ceiling in silence. Samus had been gone for hours, and he had not heard from her. A few times he had thought about calling her comm device, but he didn’t want to. On one hand, he was afraid of distracting her if she was engaged in battle, and on the other hand he was afraid of her not responding. The latter option bothered him considerably more.

He knew Samus was a very capable warrior. He had never seen her truly engaged in battle, but her reputation spoke for itself. And the one time he had seen her fight, she had been terrifying. Even though he knew she had done it to protect him, the image of the mercenary shooting a bounty hunter’s head off always disturbed him when it passed through his mind. He would not say he was afraid of his mother, but his hair stood on end every time she displayed even the slightest hint of anger, even if it had never been directed at him.

Given that she claimed her temper had vastly improved since she was younger, he wondered what she had been like when he was only a child, or more specifically, what she would have been like to him as his mother. His father had told him in the days after Hector first met his mother that Samus was extremely prone to anger, in some cases episodes of blind rage. He had also warned him not to get too attached to the nomadic woman because there was a dangerous restlessness in her that nothing would ever soothe. On some level, Hector could see what his father had meant, but at the same time, he could not truly grasp those concepts.

Archer looked up from where he lay and licked the boy’s hand as it dangled off the couch. Hector scratched the dog’s head absently as he thought about what he should do. There was only so much time he could spend sitting around watching the holoscreen. In a certain sense, it was exciting to know he was accompanying the legendary Samus Aran on one of her missions, but it was also boring and nerve-wracking to know he was stuck behind in her ship, completely unable to help if something should go wrong.

He was just thinking about going into the kitchen and trying to make himself something to eat when suddenly his watch began to beep. The caller ID showed the name of Abridgette Malkovich, General Malkovich’s sixteen year old daughter and the girl Hector had been dating since before he found out Samus was his mom. Jumping off the couch fast enough to startle the dog, Hector ran for the cockpit where he transferred the video call up to the holoscreen in from of the controls. As he took a seat in Samus’s chair, the image of Abridgette appeared on the screen in front of him. Abridgette was a tall, thin girl with straight brown hair that fell past her mid back. Hector had always thought she looked like a younger, female version of General Malkovich.

“Hector?” she asked as he answered the call. There was a nervous tone in her voice, and her eyes were red and puffy as though she had been crying. Hector recognized that she was sitting in her bedroom, the one place she could ever really be alone.

“Hey Abby,” he replied. He felt suddenly self-conscious upon seeing her. Since coming into space, a part of him had felt guilty that he had not told her before he left. Since then, they had only communicated with each other in picture and text messages, never in video chat.

“Hector, where the hell are you? Your dad said you were supposed to be back yesterday. What happened?”

“Oh…” In all of the excitement, Hector had not thought much about his father and had not called to tell him he would not be coming home right away. He really was not looking forward to another one of his father’s rants about the horrible influence his mercenary mother was having on him. “Samus got called on an emergency mission so I’m just hanging out in her ship until she gets done. It’s not a big deal.”

Abridgette was staring at him in disbelief when something finally dawned on her. “No one’s told you yet, have they?”

The girl’s tone caused a knot to form in the pit of Hector’s stomach as he slowly shook his head. “I’m not sure what you’re—”

“My dad, Hector.” Abby’s face suddenly contorted as though she were fighting back the urge to cry. “Something happened to my dad.”

“General Malkovich?”

Abby nodded, small sobs breaking through her attempts to contain them. “He’s dead.”

“What?”

“General Harper came by this morning… she said he was deployed to some planet or something, but his ship exploded when it entered the atmosphere!”

“A-Abby…” Hector stammered, not sure how to comfort the girl. “Why would General Harper tell you that?”

Abridgette glared at the boy. “Why wouldn’t she tell us that? I just told you my father is dead, Hector! Can’t you show a little compassion instead of asking dumb questions?”

“That’s not what I meant!” Hector quickly tried to think of the right words. “I mean, we don’t know he’s dead yet, so why would Harper say that?” When Abby looked like she was about to snap at him again, he quickly added, “That kinda came out wrong… Look, the emergency mission Samus is on… Chairman Keaton called her and said your dad’s ship had exploded on this weird little moon and she’s here right now trying to rescue him.”

Abby blinked in confusion. “Aunt Sam is there? Where my dad is?”

Hector nodded. “Yeah. Keaton seems to think there’s a good chance he’s still alive…” Remembering something, the boy’s eyes became wide. “But Keaton said something else… he said something was wrong and he wasn’t the one who sent your dad on the mission. It was supposed to be someone else, but someone made your dad go instead or something and must have planted a bomb…”

“What? Are you saying someone killed my dad? Intentionally?”

“No!” Hector shook his head emphatically, trying to organize his thoughts. “Okay, I don’t remember it exactly, but a few days ago, your dad called Samus and said General Harper and Secretary of Defense Green sent him on a mission, but he couldn’t tell her what it was because it was classified and it had been authorized by the Chairman.”

“Okay… I think I follow so far.”

“But then a few days later, Chairman Keaton called Samus and told her that there had been an explosion onboard the ship your dad was on, but until then he didn’t know your dad was even on a mission. He thought he was at home on Earth with you guys.”

“So… someone sent my dad on a mission and said it was from the Chairman, but the Chairman didn’t know?”

“Right,” Hector continued. “And whoever it was must have planted the bomb on the ship.”

“And killed my dad…”

“No.” Hector shook his head again. “We don’t know that General Malkovich is dead. That’s why Samus is here. Samus is going to rescue him and all the other people from his ship.”

“If they survived… but if Keaton sent Samus because he thinks my dad is alive, why have Harper come here and tell us he died?”

Hector thought for a moment. “Because Harper’s in on it. She’s gotta be. Think about it… the military didn’t send anyone else in. Keaton hired Samus on a private contract. He didn’t want anyone else to know.”

Abby nodded nervously. “Harper said that my dad’s ship was the second rescue attempt for a colony there or something, but since that failed, the planet was deemed too dangerous to return to so they couldn’t send anyone else in.”

“Exactly… Someone wants your dad dead. Probably General Harper? For some reason?”

“And she doesn’t know Aunt Sam is there…”

Just then, something slammed into the tiny ship and rocked it. Hector jumped up as Archer growled, his hair standing on end.

“What was that?” Abby asked over the holoscreen, looking around as far as she could see.

“I don’t know,” Hector replied as another strike rocked the ship again. “Computer,” he called out to the AI, “what’s going on?”

 _“Unknown life form detected,”_ the automated voice replied. _“Defense shielding at 100% integrity.”_

Hector looked out the front window of the ship as suddenly something jumped on top of it and slithered down the window. The creature was unlike anything Hector had ever seen before. Its long, faceless head was attached to an almost skeletal black body, and its long limbs reminded him of a massive insect. Despite the opaque green windshield on the ship, the creature looked in, stared directly at Hector and growled, a tiny silver mouth emerging from the larger mouth at the bottom of its head.

Hector gasped at the sound of three more creatures jumping on top of the ship, their growls all joining together in a deathly cacophony.

 _“Multiple hostile life forms detected,”_ the ship’s AI continued. _“Relocation recommended.”_

“Hector?” Abby called nervously, her eyes wide as she could hear more of the creatures suddenly swarming the tiny ship. Archer barked and growled, looking in all directions, not sure where the threat would come from first. “Hector, you have to get out of there!”

The boy looked around nervously at all of the buttons labeled in their Chozo script. Without thinking, he placed his left hand on the control sphere and it began to glow with its white light.

_“Co-pilot recognized. Flight access granted to Human Male Hector Aran Fields. Aged fifteen standard years.”_

“Does it always have to say that?” Hector growled in frustration as he closed his eyes and tried to remember what Samus had said about flying the ship. He tried to focus as hard as he could, but it was impossible to tune out the screams of the aliens as more of them appeared in the front window and began clawing at it, trying to force their way through.

Abby watched nervously as the boy’s face went from looking angry and frustrated to looking almost peaceful as he held his hand steady on the glowing sphere. After a few moments, the ship jerked forward as both the boy and the dog jumped in shock. The aliens silenced for a moment but renewed their attack within seconds.

Taking a deep breath, Hector closed his eyes again and tried to focus. If Samus could focus on moving this thing as seamlessly as she did despite her explosive temper, then he could too. Concentrating as hard as he could, Hector jerked the ship forward again, but this time he didn’t let it startle him as he kept willing it forward. The movements were still jerky and awkward, and Archer yelped in confusion, but the ship was moving.

Unfortunately, he was not sure how to get it airborne, and he couldn’t open his eyes, so within moments, the ship crashed into one of the tall rock formations. One of the aliens screamed at it was scraped against the rock, but the ship slid off and continued, crashing into another rock shortly thereafter.

_“Acidic substance detected. Defense shielding at 98% integrity.”_

“Hector!” Abby yelled, clutching at her device’s camera back in her room on Earth. “Be careful!”

As the ship slammed into yet another rock, Hector opened his eyes, trying to see where he was going. Unfortunately, he was not much better at steering the ship with his eyes open than he was with his eyes closed. It was not long before they hit yet another rock and continued along that course, bouncing between rocks as though they were in a pinball machine.

By this point, most of the aliens had either been killed in the impacts against the rocks or had jumped ship. By the time the last xenomorph was crushed against a rock structure, a city had come into view. Increasing the ship’s speed in an attempt to outrun any pursuing aliens, Hector drove the ship straight into the city and crashed landed against the side of one of the buildings. As the little golden starship came to a complete stop, the already damaged three-story building crumbled on top of it, burying the little ship up to just below the front window.

Hector sat forward and clung to the pilot’s chair as he tried to catch his breath. He ignored the sounds of Abby calling to him in the background. By this point, Archer just sat curled up in a corner growling and baring his teeth at everything.

“Hector?” Abby called after a few moments of quiet. “Please answer me! Are you okay?”

Panting, the boy looked up at the holoscreen and nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think so.” He looked through the front window and saw the rubble and settling dust around him. On one hand, he was glad the ship had amazing defense shielding. On the other hand, he was certain his mother would kill him when she got back. “Look Abby… I’m gonna call you back later. Keep quiet about what we talked about and let me know if Harper does anything else suspicious.”

The girl grinned. “You sound just like Aunt Sam right now… even if your piloting skills could use a little work.” She snickered. “But don’t you worry. I’ll be your eyes and ears on Earth, and together we’ll crack this case!”

Hector nodded. “Yeah… I’ll let Samus know when she gets back and call you if anything comes up.” As he disconnected the call, he leaned back in the pilot’s chair and closed his eyes. He was shaking with adrenaline, and part of him felt like he was going to cry. He had not been so scared since the woman at the bar had put a gun to his head, and this time Samus had not been around to save him. He wondered if having his mother in his life was going to mean a lot more near death experiences in the future.

When the dust finished settling, he looked out the front window to try to assess the damage, but something else caught his eye. Not far from the ship stood a young girl in a raggedy brown shirt and denim overalls. She had frizzy blonde hair and stared at the ship apprehensively. Hector stared back at her, and before he could think about what he was doing, the boy clipped on a hip holster containing the paralyzer gun Samus had given him before she left.

All he could think was that there could be more aliens out there, and somehow he had to rescue the scared-looking little girl. Ignoring his mother’s wishes that he stay on the ship, Hector headed straight for the exit hatch. He may not have been a warrior, but he had a chance to save this girl’s life, whoever she was, and it was a chance he had to take.


	9. Unknown Species. Unknown Origin.

 

The sun was well past its zenith and getting close to setting by the time Ripley, Vasquez, and Samus approached the building that contained the elevator down to the bunker. Despite the deal the flight officer and the bounty hunter had made, the three women had spent some time searching for Newt. Even though she wanted to see Adam and know he was safe, Samus had eventually relented and agreed to a quick search for the girl before returning to the bunker. That quick search, however, had lasted hours. Looking for survivors often caused Samus to lose track of time, mostly due to her own history, and in this case the survivor had only been a child.

But as the sun got closer to setting and there was still no trace of the girl, Vasquez had talked Ripley into bringing their search party in for the night. The creatures were mostly active after dark, and both the flight officer and the young marine were exhausted by the end of the day. Vasquez in particular had sustained a few minor injuries in the fight against one of the xenomorphs, and Ripley was anxious to make sure those got treated.

Even Samus was beginning to feel a bit worn down, although she gave no outward sign of it. According to the time in her suit, she had been on the hunt for nearly twenty hours straight, and it had been nearly twice as long since she had slept. Though she had already healed from the wounds she had sustained in the battle with the xenomorph swarm, healing had taken a good deal of energy. While she hated knowing that a child was out in the alien-infested colony alone at night, she was very tired and anxious to finally reunite with Adam. Furthermore, Vasquez had informed her that the child had survived for days before anyone had arrived to rescue her and knew the abandoned colony better than anyone else. There was a good chance she had made it back to the bunker before them and was already down there safe and sound.

Samus had rarely spoken in the time she was with the two women. Instead, she had opted to observe them and their interactions. On one hand, it was useful to gather as much information as she could about them and how they had ended up as they were. Ripley seemed to be the more levelheaded of the two, but Vasquez was definitely the muscle. Apparently there had been a man called Gorman with them until just before Samus arrived, but he had been killed by the very same creature from which Samus had saved Ripley. Vasquez seemed upset about his death, although she expressed herself as more angry than sad, repeatedly calling him an asshole for getting killed the way he had. But her tone had a note of gratitude in it, and Samus inferred that he had been killed saving her.

She may not have been the most socially skilled individual in the galaxy, but Samus excelled at observing people. As a hunter, it was a very important skill to possess, but there was another reason she did not speak. In her combat mindset, she found it hard to talk to people. She was too focused on observation and hunting, so carrying on a conversation took far more concentration and effort than usual. In combat mode, all of her spare focus was tied up in controlling her powersuit and keeping track of its displays. Had she not encountered the small search party, she likely would have continued to hunt long into the night.

But as the three women stepped into the mineshaft elevator and it descended far below ground, Samus realized how tired she was and how badly she yearned for some time to rest. She was surprised how deep underground the elevator went. For someone born in a mining colony, it had been a very long time since she had actually been in any kind of mine, although the Phazon mines of Tallon IV came to mind.

When the elevator stopped, the three women stepped out into pitch darkness until Ripley and Vasquez turned on the lights mounted to their weapons. Samus watched as they waked over to a heavy metal hatch in the ground and turned the wheel to unlock it. They eventually pulled it open, revealing a ladder down to a dimly lit fallout shelter, and Samus could feel her breath catching in her chest. If what they said were true, Adam would be down there. He would be alive, and she would finally be able to exhale a little. The fear had been eating away at her for the entirety of this mission so far. She had lost a lot of people in her life, but none of them had been around as long as Adam had. Even the Chozo she had only known eleven years before she left them, but Adam had been her commanding officer nearly two years before the birth of her son, and in the fifteen years that followed he had become much more to her than that. For much of that time, he had been her only friend in the universe.

Vasquez went down into the bunker first, leaving Ripley and Samus alone for a few seconds. The flight officer stared at the bounty hunter suspiciously before she climbed down as well. In her armor, Samus was much bulkier than either of the two women, and she would not fit easily through the hatch. Rather than switch into morphball form and really freak them out, Samus opted instead to deactivate her armor as soon as Ripley was out of sight. Within seconds, the powersuit glowed with its bright orange light and returned inside the pendant on the heavy chain around her neck. Stuffing it back under the collar of her jumpsuit, Samus climbed down the ladder into the bunker as well.

As she entered the bunker and hopped off the ladder, Samus turned to see five pairs of eyes all staring at her. She recognized Ripley and Vasquez, but there were a man and a woman she had never seen before. Sitting over on the far wall, however, she saw Adam looking back at her.

“Damn,” Vasquez said, genuinely shocked. “I totally mistook you for a man.”

“Samus is a woman’s name,” the bounty hunter muttered as she looked around the room. Even out of the armor, she knew she must look strange to them. Standing at six-foot-three, she was certainly not the average woman. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she wore a fairly standard navy blue flight suit, but faded dark scars on her face showed where had once suffered a near-fatal phazon corruption. Blood caked a few of the torn areas on her jumpsuit.

“Lady?” Adam’s voice called from across the long room, and Ripley turned to look at him quizzically.

Samus felt her adrenaline spike as she walked across to the far wall where the General sat. As she assessed him from a distance, she decided he looked a little bit worse for wear, but he did not appear seriously injured. Although she would bet he was sitting because his back had flared up again.

“Adam,” she said softly as she knelt beside the General, aware of all the eyes on her back. “Are you all right?”

Adam sat up straighter, his eyes running over the mercenary’s form and settling on the bloody tears in her clothing where the xenomorphs had cut through her armor. “I should be asking the same of you.”

Samus shook her head in frustration. “I’m fine. You’re the one whose ship just blew up. Do you know how worried I was about you when I heard that? What the hell were you thinking coming on this mission? At your age?” She huffed in annoyance. “You fucked up your back again, didn’t you?”

The General glared at her, although it lacked any real force behind it. “Samus, you don’t get to decide what missions I am or am not suited for.”

“Well someone’s got to say something if the Federation is this stupid, and you’re this reckless and—” She stopped and took a breath, trying to get her temper under control. “I’m just glad you’re alive,” she muttered quietly, wishing the other four people could not see her. “I was really worried when I got the call that something had happened to you.”

Adam’s face softened as he regarded Samus. “Are you all right, Lady?”

She nodded as she took a seat beside him. “I’ll be fine. A few minor wounds, but they’ve already healed up.”

“I take it you’ve encountered the creatures?” The General asked very seriously.

“Yes… quite a few of them.” The bounty hunter did not seem bothered at the thought of the xenomorphs, but Adam could see the humans in the room visibly stiffen at their mention. “They swarmed me at one point. Fortunately, they don’t seem to like fire much.”

“So are you the one who caused that explosion last night?” Ripley asked suddenly as she, Vasquez, Portia, and Bishop moved to sit around them.

“I caused a very large explosion last night,” Samus replied, turning to regard the other four survivors. “We’re probably both thinking of the same one.”

“The sleeping quarters for the ship,” Adam began, his tone taking on a note of urgency, “did you find them? Was anyone alive?”

Samus regarded her friend solemnly. “I found them. They were overrun with xenomorphs. No human survivors. I trapped the creatures inside and blew up the whole thing.”

Adam hesitated as he studied her. “That seemed like more than just a power bomb blast.”

“When I found it, it was soaked with fuel gel. Who ever planted the bomb on your ship was planning for that whole back cabin to go up as well, but it must have ejected before the flames spread far enough.”

“What do you mean ‘planted the bomb’?” Adam’s voice suddenly took on a harsh tone, and Portia shrunk back slightly at his authoritative demeanor.

“I mean exactly what I said,” the bounty hunter replied. “That whole job was intentional, straight up. There were signs of arson all over that wreck, traces of fuel gel and other chemicals. Someone wanted you dead. All of you.”

A tense hush fell over the room. After a while, Ripley broke the silence. “How do you know all of this?”

“Samus’s powersuit allows her to scan objects for a number of different factors,” Adam explained. “Chemicals included. She’s extremely well equipped to make that assessment.”

“W-who would have done such a thing?” Portia squeaked from the periphery of the group. The bounty hunter looked at the young woman curiously.

“I apologize,” Adam said suddenly. “I forgot to do introductions.” Turning to the survivors, he said, “Samus, you’ve already met Flight Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and Private First Class Jenette Vasquez. This young woman is Dr. Portia Grey, and she was accompanying me on this ill-fated trip. And that gentleman in the back is Executive Officer Lance Bishop, an artificial person of the Colonial Marine unit.” Turning to the bounty hunter, he continued, “And this is Samus Aran, a private military contractor and long-time friend of mine.”

Samus nodded politely if not a little awkwardly. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“An honor to meet you as well, Ms. Aran,” Bishop replied. “I have certainly heard of your valor in the Space Pirate War, and I am glad for the chance to meet you in person.”

Samus smiled half-heartedly. She never knew how to respond when people tried to shower her with praises. It made her profoundly uncomfortable.

Catching Ripley eyeing him questioningly, Adam turned to Samus. “Would you excuse me and Ripley for a bit, Lady? I need to talk to her about a few things.”

“Lady?” Vasquez asked with a snort. She was quickly met with a nasty glare from the mercenary, as though Samus were daring her to make one more quip about that. Vasquez immediately shut up.

Turning away from Vasquez, Samus simply nodded to the General as she got up and walked across the bunker. There was a little area behind some crates close to the entrance, and she decided it was the best place she could go if she hoped for any kind of privacy in the cramped quarters. Vasquez and Bishop walked off in their own direction as the bunker became filled with hushed voices.

Samus made her way to her chosen corner and rearranged some of the storage crates to create a sort of little cubicle for herself. While she knew it was not any sort of real privacy, she was content with the fact that she could not be seen from most areas of the bunker. Unzipping her flight suit, she pealed it down to her hips so she could better assess the cuts to her abdomen. By this point, however, all was as she had expected, and the only signs that she had been wounded at all were the dried blood and the slight outlines of scarring where her skin had healed.

Wishing she had a damp cloth to clean herself off a little, Samus pulled her jumpsuit back up and zipped it closed. She sat on a crate and pulled an inhaler from one of the pouches on her hips. Though she was fine for the most part, she had been a little short of breath for a while now. While it had not mattered in her powersuit, the air in the bunker was stale and a bit more difficult to breathe, and despite how much she hated admitting her lungs had never healed properly, she knew she had to take care of them.

She had just puffed the medicine into her mouth and started to inhale when suddenly a mousey looking young woman with long brown hair appeared before her. Samus nearly gagged in shock and embarrassment upon seeing Portia, and the young doctor seemed just as surprised as she was.

“Dr. Grey?” she asked after a moment of breathing deeply and trying to help the medicine take effect. “What the hell?”

“I’m sorry,” the nervous woman replied sheepishly. “I didn’t realize I was disturbing you…”

Samus made a sound like a growl but eventually just shook her head. “I should have known better than to think I could get any privacy in this place.”

Portia regarded the bounty hunter quietly for a moment. “Are you all right? Are you sick?”

With a sigh, Samus shook her head. “Ignore what you just saw. And for shit’s sake don’t tell Adam. He’ll start worrying over nothing and getting annoying and I really don’t feel like dealing with that.”

Portia nodded. “I understand. He does seem to prioritize the needs of others over himself.”

The bounty hunter rolled her eyes as she put the inhaler back in its pouch. “You can say that again.”

“But if you need anything, I am a doctor. I specialize in researching newly discovered life forms but I can treat humans as well.”

Samus laughed humorlessly. “So I guess you don’t mind semi-humans.”

“I don’t mind them at all. Are you…?”

The bounty hunter looked at her and raised her eyebrows. “Delta-class semi-human. Unknown species. Unknown origin.”

“I suppose you would be right up my alley then… but you really don’t know your own origins?”

Samus looked at her skeptically. “ _I_ know my own species and origins, but even if anyone else knew them, they would have no idea how to react, let alone handle it in a medical capacity. It’s easier just to keep that information to myself and tell doctors just to treat me as a human.”

“I see,” Portia replied, thinking about what Samus had said. “I suppose whatever your are though, that’s why you’re so strong…”

Samus shrugged. “I was born a human. I was genetically altered as a child so I could be made into a sort of bioweapon. So yes, that’s why I’m as strong as I am.”

“And why you heal so quickly,” the doctor continued. “Fascinating…. I’m sorry if I’m being nosy. It’s just… well, I’ve studied so many exotic species, but I’ve never met a human bioweapon before.”

“And for good reason. Federation scientists have no business taking human children and turning them into tools of war. In my case, what’s passed has passed. There’s nothing I can do but use the powers I’ve been given for the sake of the galaxy…” She paused. “Don’t get me wrong though. I don’t resent my fate, nor do I pity myself for it. It’s simply not something I think should be forced onto anyone else without their consent.”

“I understand.” Portia looked over the bounty hunter. “I’ve heard of your feats during the war… you’re very brave, Ms. Aran.”

“Just ‘Samus’ is fine. Everyone else here might have fancy titles, but I don’t need one. I’m just Samus.”

The doctor nodded. “You can call me just ‘Portia’ then. It feels too stiff and formal with everyone calling me ‘Dr. Grey’ all the time. And formality just seems out of place in a situation like this.”

Samus laughed. “Tell me about it. But good luck getting Adam to do that. I practically had to twist his arm years ago to get him to stop calling me ‘Private Aran.’”

“You were in the service?”

“Long time ago… didn’t work out too well so I don’t talk about it.”

“Is that how you know the General?”

Samus nodded. “He and I go way back.”

“Kind of ironic if you think about it with him being one of the biggest opponents of bioweapon research in all of the Federation and you being—” She stopped, and her face became pale as she realized what she had been about to say.

“And me being a bioweapon,” Samus finished for her. “Yes, it is a bit ironic.”

“I’m sorry I—”

Samus dismissed the doctor’s apology with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. It is true, after all… besides, I’ve been called far worse things.”

Portia nodded quietly. “Well, like I said before, I am a doctor, and I do specialize in unknown life forms. If you ever want any type of medical help a human doctor can’t provide, I’d be happy to see what I can do. It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done for the galaxy, Samus.”

The bounty hunter smiled. “Thank you, Portia. I’ll keep that in mind. Now why don’t you go and get some rest? I have some scans I need to go through, and I need to check up on my ship.”

Portia nodded. “Good night, Samus.”

“Good night, Portia.”


	10. The Hunted

**Chapter 9: The Hunted**

"Who is she, General?" Ripley asked as she sat beside Adam and watched Samus walk away.

"I suppose you really don't know, do you?" Adam replied, looking at his companion with amusement. The idea of anyone not knowing of the feats of Samus Aran seemed ridiculous in this day and age, but he knew she had been in hypersleep for 57 years, far longer than Samus had even been alive.

The flight officer shook her head. "I thought she was some kind of robot at first. Even now, she hardly seems human."

"Well, you're not wrong about that. Samus is a semi-human. She's the genetically enhanced super soldier I told you about before." Adam paused. "I'm actually really surprised to see her here. I'd like to know how she found us."

"She told us she was on a private contract for the Federation Chairman." Ripley stared at where the bounty hunter had disappeared behind some storage crates, unknowingly followed by a curious Portia.

"That's odd." Adam also looked to where Samus had gone. "I didn't think the Feds would send anyone else in at this point. Unless Keaton didn't get approval to hire a mercenary and acted independently, which is entirely possible."

"Do you trust her?"

The General looked genuinely surprised. "With my life."

"Even knowing what she is?"

"I know people of your time had their prejudices," Adam replied sternly, "but I would think you intelligent enough to know how to look beyond that and see Samus as a person rather than just a weapon. Especially with her coming out here to rescue us the way she has."

Ripley shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I just worry about the motives of whoever engineered her. You said they didn't see themselves as beholden to Federation law. And they created an extremely powerful bioweapon. Why? Surely not just to protect the Federation considering how insignificant they consider it. Why did they make her the way she is? And does she have her own hidden agenda they've built into her? It's just… scary to think there's a species out there that can actually take a human being… a person… and turn them into a machine of war."

Adam was quiet for a while as he thought about how to respond. "I doubt Samus is some kind of sleeper agent for an extinct alien race's hidden agenda. From what she's told me, they gave her the powers she has so she could be the 'Protector of the Galaxy' or some such title. The Chozo, the aliens that made her, were a fairly peaceful race, though they had fallen into decline. I think Samus was supposed to be some sort of guardian for their civilization and a weapon against the Space Pirates."

Ripley nodded. "They told me about the war. They might have told me about Aran at some point, but I really can't remember. Fifty-seven years is a long time to catch up on. I've never seen technology like that suit she wears. Closest thing I've encountered to it is the power loader I've been operating back at the company."

"Seems funny they'd have an experienced flight officer operating a power loader."

"Well, when I woke out of hypersleep, they stripped me of that rank, not believing me about the creature that took out the  _Nostromo_ , but they promoted me again for this trip. Because now they can't pretend I made these creatures up." She watched as Portia seemed to walk in on the bounty hunter's little cubby at a bad time and wondered what the tall blonde woman was doing in there. "I'm sorry if I'm being too critical of Aran. I'm worried about Newt, so I'm on edge. I've seen what those things can do and she's just a little girl."

"You're thinking about going back out there," Adam stated firmly, no hint of a question in his tone.

Ripley nodded. "I don't care if I have to do it by myself. I was hoping she'd be here when we got back, but she's not. We searched all afternoon and into the evening for her, but she's nowhere. I know she's still alive…"

"If Samus couldn't find her, you won't be able to either, especially not now that it's night again. You'll be killed in an instant, and if the girl happened to survive the night, which we know she is capable of doing, she'll be worse off for losing you than she would be if you waited for it to be safe."

Ripley sighed and fiddled with the dial on the flamethrower beside her. "I know that. That's the only reason I'm still down here. We've already lost so many people. Today alone we lost Gorman… I'm not losing her."

Adam nodded. "If there's a way to find her, Samus will do it. I have no doubts about her abilities. Searching for survivors is something of a specialty of hers."

"Then why isn't she out there right now?"

The General shrugged. "I'm sure she was anxious to find me. Aside from that… there must be other things she's working on. Things she thinks could help us."

"She looked like something cut her up pretty good when she took off her suit. Maybe she's injured."

"As ridiculous as it sounds," Adam said with a sigh, "she would never let something like that stop her. She's doing something behind those crates. There are things she hasn't told us about, but those things will reveal themselves in time."

"Let's just hope she was actually contracted for a rescue mission then. Not to capture one of those things and bring it back for research…"

Adam shook his head. "Even if she was hired to do that, she'd still rescue us."

"Heh," Ripley scoffed. "You obviously don't know how that works, do you?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"How you would catch one of these things. They can't be taken in fully mature like the ones you saw. You'd have to bring one back in the fetal stage."

"I read about this." The General regarded Ripley very seriously. "These… Facehuggers, for lack of a better term, come out of eggs and attach themselves to a host. And then they implant something that gestates inside of that host."

"Yes," Ripley replied darkly, a note of anger rising in her voice. "That's when you would transport them. Freeze the host with the specimen still inside and bring it back in medical quarantine."

"You'd have to kill the host."

Ripley nodded. "Exactly. A sacrifice though… for the greater good. That's how they justify it. For science. To make more weapons to protect us. In 57 years, people haven't changed. That's why Ash brought one on board the  _Nostromo_ , and what Burke did…"

"Carter Burke was the Weyland-Yutani representative on this trip," Adam filled in, noting the visceral reaction the flight officer had at the mention of his name. "I'll venture it's safe to assume he is dead now."

"Not a moment too soon." Ripley stared at the General, a new ferocity in her eyes. "He was with us the whole time, acting like he wanted to help rescue the colonists, but he was here for the Corporation, and he was planning to bring back one of those things." She put a hand up to her mouth and took a deep breath before continuing. "He locked me and Newt in a lab with one of those eggs. We barely survived the thing trying to—"

She stopped, but Adam knew exactly where she was going with her story.

"Samus would never do something like that," he said quietly. "I don't care how much money any corporation or government tried to offer her. She would never allow a woman and a child to be violated and sacrificed for greed or weapons research."

"And yet," Ripley looked at him very seriously, "she bares the legacy of a species that did sacrifice a child for weapons research."

* * *

As Hector rose through the ship's exit hatch to stand on top of it, he stared down at the little girl who looked back up at him. Although dirty and generally nervous looking, she appeared more curious about him than frightened by him. Slowly, the boy stepped forward, not knowing exactly how to approach the situation. His intent had been to rescue her and bring her back onto the ship, but he got the strange feeling that she had a better handle on the situation than he did.

"Hey," he called out to her as he awkwardly tried to balance walking down the side of the ship. However, the sides of the golden ship were rounded and treacherous to walk on, and he wondered how Samus managed to make jumping on and off of it look so easy. "I'm here to rescue you and protect you from those—"

The boy yelped as he missed his footing and suddenly found himself tumbling down the side of the ship and onto the pile of debris that rose halfway up the hull. Though he tried to find something to hold onto, he rolled a good way through the ashy pile of stony debris until he found himself laying flat on his back and gasping for air. A quick assessment of his body let him know he was not hurt or anything, but the shock of falling had momentarily knocked the wind out of him.

Hector started to sit up but jumped as the face of the little blonde girl appeared above him. Her haunted gaze stared down at him.

"You can't," the girl said in a hollow tone that made chills run down the boy's back.

"I can't do what?" Hector asked as he got to his feet and dusted himself off, checking to be sure the paralyzer gun was still in its holster.

"You can't protect me," she continued in her eerily empty voice. "You can't protect anyone from the creatures. No one can."

He stared down at her, dumbfounded. Though he had never actually tried to rescue anyone before, the whole situation had played out very differently in his mind.

"Of course I can." He gestured over to Samus's ship, half covered in debris. "We can go into the ship, and whatever those monsters are, they can't get us there."

The girl looked over at the ship. "You couldn't even walk down the side of the ship. How are you planning to get back on top of it to go inside?"

Hector didn't say anything for a moment, suddenly aware of how bad of a job he had done thinking his plan through. He was about to say something when all of a sudden one of the buildings he had hit with his ship began to tremble. As pieces of the building began falling, he realized the unstable structure was about to collapse.

"Watch out!" the girl shouted as she took his hand and pulled him away from the danger zone. As they ran away, the building continued to crumble, and within moments the entire structure collapsed, completely burying Samus's ship in twisted metal and chunks of debris. Though it took a long time for the dust to settle, Hector peaked his head out from the dilapidated structure they had taken shelter behind and groaned.

"Oh crap…" He stared at the crumbled remains of the building in disbelief, searching desperately for any sign of where his mother's ship had once been. "Samus is gonna kill me…"

The girl looked at him curiously. "Who's Samus?"

Hector looked back at her, having momentarily forgotten her presence. "She's my mother. And some kind of super warrior."

She stared back at him with her empty eyes. "You don't call her 'mom?'"

"Um… It's complicated." Though it was not actually a very complicated topic, Hector did not feel like discussing his personal life with the creepy little girl. "I'm Hector, by the way."

"I'm Newt."

"Newt? That's your name?"

She looked at him in a way that suggested she should have been sad. "My name is Rebecca Jorden, but everyone calls me Newt. Except my brother Timmy, but he's dead now."

"I'm sorry…" Hector was not sure what to say to the information she had so casually and emotionlessly volunteered. He wondered if she had simply become numb to such things and then wondered what else had happened to render her that way. He found himself wishing Samus were around, certain that she would know how to handle the situation.

"We should get out of here," Newt said, suddenly changing the topic. "The sun is going down, and the creatures mostly come at night. Mostly."

Hector just nodded as he followed the girl farther into the deserted city. He was not sure where she was taking him, but he knew he could not get back into the ship now. Fortunately, the shields had most likely held up, so the ship itself and Archer would be all right, but he had no way to get into it the way it was.

Newt seemed to know where she was going and very decidedly set the pace for their journey. As light as she was, the girl moved like a ghost, silently and quickly as Hector followed along behind her. Her face displayed no affect as they continued through broken streets covered in debris. She evaded everything easily, although he had to be careful not to trip on anything and turn an ankle. When they came upon an unremarkable little building, the girl stopped and turned to Hector. He nodded as she opened the front door and stepped inside.

However, as the boy and girl stepped into the lobby, they both stopped in their tracks. The front room was not large, but it was very dark, and as they entered it, they could hear the muffled sounds of something breathing. Newt froze up entirely as her breathing quickened and Hector saw fear taking hold of her face, the first real emotions he had seen from the girl.

"Newt," he whispered, taking her hand and trying to lead her back out through the front door. "We need to go."

But the girl stood frozen in terror as she stared at a back corner of the room where the breathing sounds were coming from. They seemed slow and steady as if whatever was making them was asleep, and through Hector's eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness, Newt looked like she could see whatever it was, and she could not take her eyes off of it.

"Newt," he repeated, tugging on her as his other hand reached for the gun on his waste, "come on. We need to—"

With a sudden sound like rustling, a screech came from the back corner, and Newt's breathing became even faster.

"Newt!" Hector yelled as he forcefully pulled the little girl back through the door, we need to run! Now!"

Snapping back into reality, the girl's petrified body began to move again as both children ran out the door and back onto the streets. As the sun disappeared from the sky, they sprinted as fast as they could over the dilapidated streets, each one silently hoping that they did not trip over anything. Though they did not look back to see if it was following them, they could still hear the creature's screeches, and they were certain it was getting closer.

Hector was about to draw the gun from its holster when suddenly Newt's hand latched onto the sleeve of his jacket, and the girl pulled him into another building with her. Eyes slowly adjusting to the pitch darkness, Hector looked around the front room of this latest building and noticed the girl pulling what appeared to be a large air vent off of the wall. As she set the vent cover to the side, she looked back at him.

"In here," she whispered.

Without hesitation, Hector crawled into the ventilation shaft, and Newt followed close behind, replacing the vent before they crawled farther in. Not far from where they entered, the shaft went up at a ninety-degree angle, and Hector had to pull himself up to nearly the height of the ceiling. Newt, however, was no where near as tall as the boy, and he had to turn around and give her a hand up before they could crawl further into the shaft. They were halfway across the room when they both stopped suddenly as a shadowy form walked through the front door.

Hector watched in paralyzed horror through a small vent cover as one of the spiny black aliens walked into the room. Though he had seen them briefly on the windshield of the ship, nothing could have prepared him for seeing one up close and personal. The creature stood nearly eight feet tall as its faceless head looked around the room. The boy and the girl both tried to soften their breathing as quietly as it could go, lest it find them.

The creature moved like a hunter, slowly and decisively, looking around and sensing the air for its prey in ways Hector could not understand given its lack of eyes. When he was just starting to think they were safe, the creature sharply turned its attention to where he and Newt were hidden in the duct and let out a horrifying primordial scream as its mouth opened to reveal a second silver mouth growing out of it and screaming as well.

Within an instant, Hector and Newt were off clamoring through the ventilation ducts at breakneck speed, no longer bothering to try to keep quiet. As they crawled as quickly as they could, they heard the vent being pried open behind them as the creature's screams echoed through the shaft.

Heart pounding and terrified out of his mind, Hector kept crawling as fast as he could, even as he could hear the creature clamoring into the vent behind them. He was certain he was going to die and wished desperately that Samus would appear again and save them, just as she had done on Daiban when he had been attacked by the other bounty hunter. But there was no such luck, and he was on his own now, save for a terrified little girl crawling behind him.

"Go right!" Newt shouted at him.

Before he had any time to wonder what she meant, the duct branched off into two directions, right and forward. Quickly, he turned right, realizing he was crawling into a much more narrow duct this time, one he barely fit through. However, he realized that if he barely fit through it, there was no way that creature would. With a renewed hope that they might just survive the encounter, Hector clamored as quickly as he could through the vent, listening as Newt turned down the narrow passage behind him. Though he could still hear the creature's screams reverberating through the shaft, they were becoming more and more distant, and it was not long before he saw a dim light up ahead coming from another vent covering.

As he approached it, Hector put all his force behind pushing the vent cover off of its wall. As the cover came off, the boy stepped through the opening and stared at the new sight before him. They were outside again, and they were at a mining site standing atop one of the raised platforms. As Newt wriggled out of the vent, she replaced the cover behind her as she joined him at looking out over the mines. There were huge machines, some with drills and others with plows and pulleys. In the ground there were deep wells and shafts, although there seemed to be no trace of whatever substance they had been searching for. Various platforms like the one they stood on were built into what looked like the side of a small mountain.

Hector looked for a way down from the platform, but all he could see was a set of rickety looking wooden stairs precariously hewn into the stony gray rock face. Wordlessly, he and Newt headed down the steps, holding tight to the primitive rope railing as though they thought it would save them from anything. After a few moments of descending the stairs, however, Hector felt his hand run over a strange slimy goo. Withdrawing his hand instinctively from the rope, he tried to shake it off and get a good look at what it was.

As he stared at the clear slime on his hand, he looked past it to see Newt's eyes had become wide and terrified again, and he felt his heart sink in his chest.

"Run," she whispered as they heard a sudden skittering from the platforms above.

Though Hector had run track for a number of years at his school never in his life had he run faster than he did in that moment. Realizing there was no way the girl could keep up with him, he lifted her light form onto his back and let her ride him piggyback down to the ground level. As he got off the stairs, Newt jumped off of him and headed directly for a heavy grate in the ground near one of the large drills.

"Help me!" she called as she tried to pull it off. Without thinking, Hector joined her and quickly had the heavy grate off to reveal the tunnel below. Newt looked at him wide eyed, amazed by the lack of effort it had taken the boy to pull off the heavy grate, but her amazement was short lived as she scampered down into the hole. Hector followed behind, replacing the cover as he went and joining the girl as they ran through a long, dimly lit tunnel. It was lined with what appeared to be tracks as though for a coal cart or a small train, but Hector did not see anything fitting that description.

They ran for a long time, as long as Newt could, before they finally slowed down. They no longer heard the sounds of the alien behind them, and they took a moment to breathe. However, they knew they could not go back the way they came and decided to keep walking to see where the tunnel led.

They must have been walking for half of an hour before Hector finally saw something up ahead. Through the tracks continued on past it, there was a wide wooden warning sign with words painted on it in big red letters: "DANGER! No Entry Without Authorization."

He stared at the sign curiously for a moment before he and Newt disregarded it and kept going. However, they did not make it far when they realized what the danger was. In the middle of the tunnel, there was a steep drop-off with only the narrow tracks spanning the distance to the other side. Though the structure looked unsound and poorly maintained, Hector and Newt did not hesitate to walk across it, trying to balance as best they could on the wooden tracks despite how shaky the structure was. Newt made it quickly over to the other side, her light form practically floating across the tracks.

Hector nearly made it to the other side as well when suddenly one of the tracks collapsed under his foot. Without warning, half of his body fell into the hole it left, slamming him forward into the track in front of that. He did not have time to grab ahold of the other track and try to pull himself up before it too collapsed under the force of his fall. Desperately grabbing at whatever he could reach, the boy did not stand a chance as he fell through the rickety old wood and down into the darkness bellow.

Heart pounding wildly in his chest, the boy screamed, but he did not fall for very long before he landed on a soft muddy surface. However, he seemed to have fallen onto a hill, and as he hit the mud, he slid quickly down the slippery surface.

"Hector!" he heard Newt shout behind him as she jumped down to join him, also sliding down the muddy surface.

The boy grunted awkwardly as they fell deeper into the shaft, but when the ground finally leveled out and they came to a stop, Hector was surprised to find the underground cavern illuminated by an eerie orange glow. Stand up and brushing himself off as best as he could, the boy walked forward, and soon the muddy ground was replaced by a floor of well-laid stone work that led to a corridor that contained the source of the light.

Wondering if they had stumbled into some type of ancient ruins, the boy and the girl walked forward together into the hall. The light apparently came from strange glowing orbs built into the wall itself, and Hector wondered what their power source was since they did not seem to be part of the mining tunnel.

The further they walked into the corridor, the more elaborate the stonework became, and even farther down, they started seeing pictures on the wall that almost resembled the artwork of the Ancient Egyptians Hector had learned about on Earth. However, instead of hieroglyphics, there was a strange writing that was all too familiar to Hector, and instead of pictures of humans, the images were of anthropomorphic bird people.

Hector did not need to wonder where they were. He knew exactly what kind of ruins they had wandered into. And his suspicions were only further confirmed when they made it into a large antechamber. There, on a massive stone door directly across from the boy and the girl, was a huge engraved painting of one of the bird people. But instead of the robes the creatures wore in the pictures in the corridor, it had on some type of red battle suit.

Armor almost identical to Samus's.

 


	11. Xenomorph XX121

  _Data Log: 5.16.2235 (Acheron)_

_Species: Xenomorph XX121_

_Chozo Script Translated_

_As our colony on Tallon IV began to suffer the effects of the element poisoning its very earth, we decided to expand our settlements to other parts of the known universe. It was purely by accident that we stumbled across this moon of Calpamos, a body we would eventually settle and infamously dub “Acheron”._

_While our settlers were the first to establish a civilization on the otherwise dead moon, we were not the first visitors. A routine search of the moon uncovered an alien ship that had crash-landed centi-cycles before. While we were able to determine the origin of the ship as Mala’kak, we were more interested in the contents of its cargo chamber. Perhaps we should have taken heed of Engineer that appeared to have been killed by something springing forth from its chest, but I digress. We were foolish._

_Our interest was in the large cache of eggs we found in what we mistakenly believed to be some kind of stasis. When one of our warriors approached the eggs too closely, a white crustaceous creature with several digit-like legs and a long tail burst forth and attached itself to his face. Try as we could to remove the Facehugger, it could not be done, its very blood dangerously acidic._

_We were able to transport both the affected warrior and several cautiously obtained eggs back to our laboratories for study. The eggs were cryogenically frozen to prevent a repeat of the accident aboard the Mala’kak ship. While we discovered the Facehugger seemed to be simultaneously killing the warrior and keeping him alive, our scans showed that a second being was growing within his chest cavity. Although at first it appeared as a mass of tumors generated from his own cells, it soon became obvious that the parasite had somehow impregnated him. Within hours, the parasite fell off and died, and the warrior awoke unaware of what had transpired. We held him in quarantine behind explosive-proof walls for observation._

_It was not long before this “child” burst forth from the warrior’s chest, and he expired as expected. The neonate, we dubbed Xenomorph XX121, and decided to keep to study for bioweapons application. Its blood was of some of the most corrosive acid we had ever seen, and its adult form rivaled even our goals for Metroid in terms of lethality. Through sacrificing various non-sentient “hosts” we were able to create a small hive of these creatures, the eldest of which growing into a Queen as the others became drones to the hive mind. In studying their efficiency as a predatory species, we sent out findings to our scientists on Zebes, suggesting they model Metroid after XX121’s multi-life-stage development and Queen-based hierarchy._

_When XX121 became too obviously hostile to harness as a weapon, we ended the experiment for the time being and disposed of all live specimens. Only a few eggs remained within our settlement, and we have no current plans to resume the experiment._

As she finished reading the Chozo’s log on the aliens, Samus stared blankly into her HUD. Once Portia had left her and it was clear all of the humans were asleep for the night, Samus had once again materialized her powersuit, remembering the log she had obtained earlier from scanning the xenomorph corpse.

Much of the information in the entry puzzled her and did not sit well on her conscience. Never had she heard of a Chozo colony on a place called “Acheron”, and never had she thought about exactly what sort of species they had modeled the metroids after when they engineered them. Nor had she ever heard of a “Mala’kak”. Given that she and the metroids were both, in a way, children of the Chozo, she had always considered herself to have a unique bond to the parasitic species, and she wondered if this meant that in some way she was connected to Xenomorph XX121 as well.

She didn’t like it. It was not unusual for her to discover things about the Chozo when she visited their planets, but those planets had always shown signs of Chozo habitation or she at least knew of them. This place, Acheron, was different. There was no record of it in anything she had read about on Zebes or any of the other Chozo planets. As for the bioweapons research, it was unsettling to read the callous way in which they described the death of their warrior and the sacrifice of other hosts, but Samus was well enough acquainted with the harsh realities of science to understand why things were done the way they were.

Still, she thought back to her Chozo family she had known so long ago on Zebes. She had been a child then, having been rescued at three and sent away at fourteen. Old Bird had taken her so lovingly under his wing, and even the other Chozo elders had been kind to her growing up. If she ignored the fact that they had hardwired electrodes into her brain, chained the powersuit to her neck, and turned her from a human child into a walking weapon, that was…

She wondered what else the Chozo had shielded her from as a child. Metroid had been a project they were working on while she was amongst them, and she wondered if the Acheron colony had been around then too. Had the Chozo always been so deep into bioweapons research? And how many other “cousins” did Samus have wandering out in the universe somewhere? The concept of bioweapons had never bothered her growing up. She had simply been raised with the idea that it was normal, and she had never questioned their decision to build her into what she was, even at the cost of part of her humanity. Now, she wondered if there were sides to the Chozo that she had never noticed in her youthful naivety. After all, had any Galactic Federation citizen attempted to replicate what they did, they would be thrown in jail for illegal research, and not only would Samus not object to that, but she would be more than happy to make that arrest.

Motherhood had taught her quite a few things, but one of the most obvious was the way she interacted with her son. There were sides of her she simply hoped he would never see, and she had actively tried to shield him from such things, even if she was not always successful. It occurred to her that perhaps the Chozo had been the same with her, and she only knew what she saw of them, the faces they showed to their child.

Samus thought of her son. She had barely known him a few weeks, and already he had seen her kill someone and intentionally cause felony levels of property damage to a government rental ship. Fortunately, she also knew no one would say or do anything to her for either of those things. Use of deadly force had been completely warranted against the other bounty hunter, and as for the ship… well, at least it had only been an inanimate object she had taken her rage out on and not a sentient being. Still, there were other parts of her she hoped she could keep hidden from her child. She hoped her temper would never turn toward him, and she hoped he would never see her lose control.

She also hoped he would never see her in the throes of a flashback or crippled by a panic attack. Despite the warm acceptance of Adam, his family, and all of the therapists she had gone through over the years, her condition still embarrassed her, and having people witness her attacks always filled her with shame. She knew she should not feel that way. It was a psychological injury caused by her repeated exposures to trauma and was as real an injury as a broken limb. She had no reason to feel ashamed. At least, all of the pamphlets the Federation Army shrink’s waiting room had said so. Still, it was one thing she never wanted her son to know about her.

Keeping her voice low enough not to wake anyone, she commanded her suit’s interface to dial her ship so she could check on the boy. It had been over a day since she had spoken to him, and while she was certain he would be safe as long as he stayed in the ship, she thought it would be a good idea to check in with him now that she had a moment to breathe. However, her call went unanswered as the line on the ship’s end continued to ring. Figuring he might just not have gotten to the holoscreen in time, she tried again. No answer.

Samus’s pulse sped up as she pulled up a map on her HUD to check the ship’s location, and her heart sank as she realized the ship was no longer in the spot she had left it. While it had not managed to do any damage to the ship, something had lowered the integrity of the shielding to 95%, and bioscans of its cabin detected that her dog was the only life form inside. Samus could feel her chest tightening as her breathing accelerated. In a futile effort, she tried calling the boy’s cell phone, but the line was completely dead.

As she listened to the hollow dial tone, she stared through her visor in disbelief, her vision becoming red with rage. Rage at whatever had attacked her son and rage at herself for bringing him to this world. Rage at whoever had planted the explosives in Adam’s ship and rage at Keaton for putting her in a position in which she had to choose either to endanger her son or allow the deaths of every survivor here. But the white-hot fury she felt gave way to a cold, calculating anger, and as she stood, she knew what she had to do. She was the infamous Hunter, and she would track down whatever had taken her child and make it pay ten-fold.

“Hey!” a hushed voice called out behind her as Samus was about to climb up to the hatch.

The armored bounty hunter turned around to face Ripley who stared her down, flamethrower in hand. “What?”

“You just leaving us while you think we’re all asleep?” the flight officer asked her pointedly, stepping forward. “Need I remind you we had a deal, bounty hunter? I brought you to the General. You take me to Newt.”

Samus stared icily back through her visor, but Ripley was not intimidated. “Circumstances have changed.”

“No,” Ripley said firmly, pulling her sidearm from its holster. “We had a deal. Newt first, then whatever your new circumstances are.”

Her face hidden by the helmet, Samus’s demeanor remained unchanged. “I left something important on my ship. I need it.”

“There is a little girl out there alone with those things, Aran!” Ripley clearly conveyed her tone despite trying to keep her voice low. “You don’t get to just decide that something you left in your ship is more important than that child’s life!”

Samus remained quiet for a moment. It had been a long time since any human had stood up to her without wavering, especially not in her notorious powersuit that stood nearly seven feet tall, dwarfing Ripley in comparison. She didn’t want to tell Ripley what she was after. She didn’t want anyone to know she had a son, much less that he was here, but she felt a sudden empathy for the other woman’s plight. “It’s my son. My son was on my ship, but a bioscan just reported he’s not anymore. I need to find him.”

Ripley looked dumbfounded for a moment as she stared at the hunter. “Y-you have a son? And you brought him here?”

Samus nodded slowly. “Yes. I never intended to bring him here, but I was called out here on an emergency assignment, and he was with me. I was told there was no time to bring him back to his father and that if I took that time, everyone stranded on this moon would almost certainly die. And yes, before you ask…. He’s fully human.”

Ripley’s face softened as she looked at Samus, so many questions running through her eyes. “I guess I just never expected… I’m sorry I assumed…”

The bounty hunter shrugged. “I’m not mom material. I don’t blame you for picking up on that. His father has full custody. He was just sort of visiting me for a few days. It was… not the best idea we’ve ever had.”

“I had a daughter,” the flight officer volunteered, stepping closer as she pulled a folded and faded photograph of an old woman from the breast pocket of her flight suit. “Her name was Amanda, and while I was in hypersleep, she aged quite a bit. She passed away a couple of years back.”

The mercenary stared at the photograph, noting that Ripley made no motion to hand it to her, and she nodded her acknowledgement. The woman in the picture looked like she could have been an older version of Ripley herself.

“So you understand why it’s so important I go out now and find my son,” Samus said softly as Ripley put the picture away. “There are only two people in this entire galaxy that I can’t lose. One of them is the General sleeping against that back wall, and the other is my son.”

“And you understand why I can’t lose Newt.” Ripley regarded Samus very seriously. “Take me with you to look for the boy. We might at least find one of them.”

“No.” Samus shook her head again. “It’s too dangerous, and you’ll only slow me down.”

“Then if I’m slowing you down, power on without me,” Ripley stated firmly.

“I work alone,” the hunter barked gruffly. “It’s dangerous. You’re human, and you’ll get hurt.”

“Well those gashes in your jumpsuit suggest you didn’t make out so well yourself last time, bounty hunter. Believe me, I wouldn’t be standing here right now demanding that some half-human gun-for-hire take me out into hostile territory if I weren’t willing to die to protect that girl. So either you let me follow along, or I’m going out alone anyway. And you better make up your mind quick because every second you waste arguing with me, those two kids are out god-knows-where with those fucking things.”

Samus stared the woman down, her rage quietly asserting itself again. “Fine,” she said in her cold, deep voice. “You can come along, but if you hold me back, I’m leaving you behind.”

“Likewise.” Ripley smirked as she cocked her side arm. “I won’t hesitate to leave you behind if you slow me down, bounty hunter.”

Although the other woman could not see, Samus curiously raised an eyebrow behind her visor.


	12. Search Party

Samus didn't like having Ripley come with her as she searched for her son. She knew the other woman was anxious to find the girl called Newt, but that wasn't Samus's priority. She needed to find her son. Quickly. Traveling with a human, however, was not helping to expedite the process, and despite what Ripley had told her about feeling free to leave her behind, the bounty hunter could not do that. If she left Ripley alone in the dark on this hostile world, the other woman would surely be killed.

They traveled quietly in the beginning, and Samus shifted constantly between her combat, thermal, and x-ray visors as they walked through the streets. A couple of times, she spotted an alien off in the distance, but a single shot from her plasma beam would cause it to scatter, even if the beam didn't make contact. On one hand, it was convenient to be able to get rid of them so quickly, but on the other hand, it meant that the creatures had somehow communicated with each other about the lethality of her weapons. The bounty hunter wondered if they could be plotting something, and she would not be surprised if they were. Despite operating as a sort of hive mind, they seemed to be individually intelligent, and that was a bad combination.

"I take it you're not a big talker," Ripley said after they had been walking for an hour or so.

Samus did not bother looking at the other woman as she scanned through more buildings in the area, desperate for clues about her son's whereabouts. "I don't usually have anyone to talk to."

"Hmm." Ripley nodded as she looked around, wishing she could see what Samus could. "You must've been to some pretty fucked up places over the years. How does this place compare?"

The bounty hunter shrugged. "I've seen worse."

"Worse than something that could wipe out an entire colony like this?"

"It doesn't take much to wipe out a colony." The bounty hunter paused. "You're lucky you missed out on the Space Pirate War."

"Yeah…" Ripley checked the gauge on her flamethrower for the thousandth time despite not having used it. It was low on fuel, and she hoped she would be able to find more soon or at least pick up a new weapon. The pulse rifle on her back would be useful, but there was something much more comforting about having a flamethrower around these aliens. "You were a big part of that war, huh? Some kind of hero or something?"

Samus was quiet for a few moments as she continued on. "I ended that war."

Ripley glanced over at the bounty hunter. "That's a lofty claim for one person… I would think the military had a bigger hand in it."

"They had a big part, but I carried out a lot of the major missions and completed the final mission of the war."

"Must have done something big."

"I blew up a planet."

"Damn…" Ripley didn't say anything else for a while as they walked in silence.

They were heading toward Samus's ship, or at least where her readout showed her ship to be now. The bounty hunter reasoned that it was the most likely place to find clues about Hector's whereabouts given that he would have had to be in the ship to pilot it to where it was now. Why he had ever left it was a mystery, and if Samus ever did find him, she was going to have to do something about that kid's recklessness. She had honestly thought he had learned a thing or two from his run-in with the bounty hunter on Daiban, but apparently not.

She felt sick to her stomach and her heart was racing. Dread had settled into tight painful knots in her chest, and she was battling with waves of hopelessness that threatened to consume her. Her child was missing. Her son was lost somewhere in hostile territory with predators that were dangerous enough that the Chozo had tried to harness them as bioweapons. He didn't even know how to shoot a gun or navigate a spaceport, and now he was lost in a decimated colony….

Samus tried to slow her breathing as she felt panic welling up within her. She would not let it consume her, however. Not here. Not while there was a chance the boy was still alive and that she could find him. She tried to focus on scanning the area, taking in every detail of the dark cityscape. Every crumbling building. Every visible star. Every road or alley that was blocked off by debris. And she tried to focus on finding her ship. As long as she wasn't at the ship yet, there was no reason to give up hope. After all, she was the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. Finding people came to her as naturally as breathing, and her ship was bound to have some kind of clue as to where the boy could have gone.

As her HUD showed that she and Ripley were getting close to the ship, her heart pumped even faster. A quick glance at her vitals showed that both her heart rate and blood pressure were getting into inappropriate zones, but she didn't care. As the area came into view where her ship was supposed to be, Samus's heart sank to find nothing but the site of a collapsed building. According to her scans, her ship was buried far below.

She froze as she surveyed the scene. Even in the dark, she could see what a complete disaster the area was. Desperately she scanned the wreckage looking for anything, even the tiniest heat signature that would show her son alive trapped somewhere beneath it. But it was to no avail. The child was simply nowhere around. When searching through her thermal visor proved to be useless, she braced herself for the worst and switched to her x-ray visor. His body would only give off heat if he was alive, and she knew the x-ray visor could potentially reveal what she had been dreading, her worst nightmare come to fruition.

Samus thought she would be sick as she searched for her son's body in the wreckage, but she was able to breathe just the tiniest sigh of relief when the scans showed no human remains. It didn't tell her anything she could use to find him, but at least she was no worse off than she had been before finding the ship. However, as the site bore no new clues on where Hector could have gone, she could feel the hopelessness threatening to consume her again, and this time she could no longer tell herself that everything would be okay once she found the ship. Now there was nothing. No leads to follow. Just a vast empty moon and a dead city.

"Aran?" Ripley called looking over to the armored figure's frozen form.

Samus turned to glance in the other woman's direction, having momentarily forgotten her presence.

"Are you all right?" Ripley asked, genuine concern in her eyes.

Samus just regard her in silence for a moment as she realized her breathing was speeding up dangerously fast. Deactivating her armor, Samus stepped forward and braced herself against a concrete slab that jutted forth from the earth.

"Give me a minute," the bounty hunter muttered after a while as she placed one hand on her chest as she tried to slow her breathing and kept the other hand grounded against the cool stone.

Ripley watched quietly, her hair standing on end when she realized the bounty hunter had begun hyperventilating. It was strange to see her remove her armor so quickly, as though it had simply turned into light and disappeared to reveal the form of the woman before her. As frighteningly robotic as she had seemed in the powersuit and as fierce as she had looked back in the bunker, the bounty hunter now looked just like a regular person as she stood with her back to Ripley, clutching a stone and fighting off the panic that something had happened to her child. The scenario had a very humanizing effect on the mercenary, and Ripley found herself walking over to her before she realized what was happening.

"Hey," she said softly, putting a hand on the hunter's arm.

Samus looked over at her, the wild look of a caged animal in her eyes as Ripley realized the hunter was starting to go into a fight or flight mode. "What?"

"He made it out of the ship, right? Did you find anything under this rubble?"

The bounty hunter shook her head, her breathing already starting to slow.

"So he made it out of here before the building collapsed then."

Samus just stared at Ripley.

"Look," the flight officer continued. "I'm not gonna beat around the bush here. Either he made it away from here on his own or one of those things took him down to wherever they drag people. It's not a reassuring idea, but if one of those things did take him, there's a good chance he's still alive somewhere."

The bounty hunter glared at her. "And what do these things do when they take people? Bring them down to their nesting grounds?"

"I think so. They reproduce by—"

Samus slammed her fist into the concrete hard enough to cause cracks to form. "I know how they fucking reproduce!"

"Then you know the kid is probably still alive somewhere." Ripley didn't flinch, although she was shocked by the bounty hunter's strength even without the armor.

Samus glared at her, a sound like a growl rising in her throat. Before Ripley realized what was happening, the mercenary had shrugged her hand off of her arm and turned to a twisted steel beam. Without warning, she punched it with enough force to leave a sizable dent in the thick, industrial steel.

Ripley repressed a shudder, glaring back at the bounty hunter. As human as she may have seemed moments before, there was just something wrong about watching a woman bend reinforced framing beams with a barehanded punch.

"Are you done throwing a temper tantrum?" Ripley asked, watching Samus cautiously. Her guard was back up, realizing just how deceiving the other woman's appearance could be.

Samus just looked over back at Ripley. Her breathing was still fast, but it was slowing down and her eyes were returning to normal. "Sorry."

The flight officer had expected a more hostile reaction and was actually surprised when Samus looked to be composing herself on her own.

"I apologize," the bounty hunter said after a few minutes, holding her hand to her chest to feel her heart rate as her breathing finally slowed back down to normal. "I know I have a bit of a temper. I'm trying to work on that."

"It's all right," Ripley replied, looking over the other woman curiously. "I honestly didn't expect you to cool down so quickly."

Samus looked over to her as she took a few deep breaths, hand still on her chest as she tried to steady herself. "I'm hardly cooled down, but at least I'm not losing control anymore…" She glanced at the ground and focused her gaze upon it. "I need to be able to concentrate. I have to be in control or I'll never find him…"

"Look," Ripley said, stepping forward toward Samus once more, "if he's anything like Newt, he probably looked for a building to hide out in for the night. Maybe he just got off the ship because he saw the building was about to fall and didn't want to get buried under it or something."

"Then why wouldn't he just steer the ship away?"

Ripley thought about that for a moment. "Maybe he couldn't move it for some reason?"

Samus shook her head. "That ship has the strongest defensive shielding in the known galaxy. I designed it myself, and the shielding is still intact. He would have known better than to leave it if he saw danger." The bounty hunter straightened up, finally taking her hand from her chest as her eyes began to focus more clearly. "Something would have to have lured him out… he wanted something outside the ship. As far as I know, these xenomorph things don't have any powers of attraction and they don't hypnotize people."

Ripley nodded. "Nope, people don't run toward xenomorphs."

"So he must not have seen any of them outside the ship when her got off of it. He saw something of a different nature." Samus looked over the scene again, dozens of scenarios playing out across her vision as she tried to put the pieces together of what had transpired here. "He saw a human."

"What?"

Samus looked over to Ripley. "He saw a human and wanted to help them… but the building was unstable and instead of being able to bring them onto the ship, they both had to flea."

"And you know this because…?"

The bounty hunter shook her head. "It's just speculation."

"But we were all at the bunker."

"Correct."

"Except Newt." Ripley's eyes widened slightly as she made the connection. "You think your son saw Newt."

Samus nodded. "It makes sense. She's a little girl. He got off the ship to help her. They ran off together somewhere… and you said Newt survived here before your crew showed up?"

Ripley nodded, her mind racing through the possibilities of where the two children could have run off together. "She's small. She gets around by climbing through the ventilation systems because the creatures can't follow her in there."

"And my son… he's not small but he's thin. Maybe he could follow her? Do you know how she normally accesses the vents?"

Ripley thought for a moment. "Certain buildings. Her parents were miners so she hung out around the buildings near the mines a lot."

"That's good… It's a start."

Feeling hope returning to her at last, Samus took a step back from Ripley and reactivated her powersuit. Within seconds, her whole body was enveloped in the golden orange light, and as it faded, her armored form stood where a human woman had been only moments before.

Ripley stared at her in shock. "Once we finish this search and rescue mission, you need to tell me how that thing works."

Samus grinned behind her visor. "I can try, but it's nothing like humans have ever built. That's for sure." Then, as if hit by a sudden afterthought, Samus pressed a few buttons on her arm cannon and motioned for Ripley to back away from the fallen building as it suddenly began to move. As the flight officer stepped back, she watched as a small spaceship rose from the wreckage, its golden orange façade the same color as Samus's armor. As the ship made it out of the rubble, Samus seemed to direct it a few meters away, parking it in a more accessible location as she turned to the flight officer. "Didn't want to have to dig that out later."

"Good idea," Ripley said with a nod, amazed once more at the hunter's unique technology.

With the ship now accessible, the two women turned away and headed off in the direction of the mines. Despite how quickly the other woman had managed to calm herself, Ripley's guard was up for Samus's temper, aware that the bounty hunter was liable to fly into a rage or some kind of panic attack if she found any evidence that something had happened to her son.

So when Ripley saw some of the notorious, gelatinous slime on a nearby building, she kept that information to herself.

 


	13. Voices Carry

Vasquez knew something was not right the moment she woke up. Looking around the room, she saw that the doctor and the General were still asleep, and the creepy android had glanced over to her the moment she sat up. Ripley and the bounty hunter, however, were nowhere to be found, and it didn't take at rocket scientist to figure out where they had run off to.

Stretching, the young marine looked over to Bishop. "They been gone long?"

"A few hours already," he replied calmly.

"Heh… Ripley and that other one didn't sleep at all, did they?" Vasquez didn't bother trying to be quiet. At this point, she didn't really care about waking Adam and Portia. "Looking for the kid?"

Bishop nodded. "Two of them apparently."

"Two kids?" Vasquez ran a hand through her short, dark hair and snatched up her red bandana from where it lay next to her.

"Apparently," Bishop said slowly, watching as the General began to stir, "Samus Aran had a child on her ship."

Tying the bandana back around her head, Vasquez raised an eyebrow at the android. "Where'd the fuck she get one of those from?"

He looked at her for a moment, his expression blank. "He's her son."

The young marine's eyes snapped fully open in shock, and she looked like someone had just kicked a puppy in front of her. "You're shitting me!"

"No," Adam's smooth, deep voice came from beside her as he sat up and looked at Vasquez. "I can assure you that Bishop…  _shits_  you not." His face suggested the words tasted sour coming out of his mouth, and they seemed almost comedic given the man's stiff and proper mannerisms.

Vasquez stared at the General as he slowly leaned himself back against the walk. "So Aran's got a kid?"

Adam nodded. "She doesn't like people to know that so I suggest you keep it to yourself. Why he's here, I have no idea. She didn't tell me about that."

"That don't make any sense," Vasquez scoffed dismissively. "Isn't she some kinda mutt?"

The General's patience was clearly starting to run thin with the young woman. He looked tired still, the lines in his face etched deeper than usual in a mixture of exhaustion and pain. It did not help that he did not have his usual access to morning coffee either. "Samus is a semi-human. You are correct in that. But she was born human and was genetically enhanced, so she maintained her reproductive functioning for a few years before becoming sterile."

"Damn." Vasquez stared at him as she reached over and grabbed her rifle. "When we get outta here I'd love to get myself hooked up with some of those enhancements. They'd sure be good to have if I'm ever stuck like this again."

Portia stirred a little ways away and slowly opened her eyes. She stared at the other three people for a moment as though trying to remember where she was before sitting up.

The doctor yawned lightly. "Morning, y'all." She glanced around at all three of their faces. "You guys were talking about something? What did I miss?"

"Did you know Aran's got a kid?" Vasquez asked a little too enthusiastically.

"A kid?" Portia looked confused. "Where did she find one of those?"

"The General says she popped it out herself!"

"What?" The doctor was now very confused. "But Samus is a semi-human. She can't conceive, and even if she did the chromosome count of the zygote would be irregular and result in an instantaneous termination… unless… because she was born human? Because she would have been born with her eggs already formed?"

"Even you knew she was born human and got made into a super freak?" Vasquez looked irritated. "Am I the only one who didn't know this was a thing that was possible?"

Portia shook her head. "I only know because I was talking to her last night. She's a fascinating specimen…"

Adam grunted as he glared back and forth between Vasquez and Portia. "Are you two quite finished? Would you both really be talking about her like that if she were around? Honestly, the woman came here to save us. I think a modicum of respect would not be out of line."

Portia seemed to shrink back as she turned to look at the ground and tried to straighten out her clothes as best she could. "I'm sorry, General Malkovich."

Vasquez just shrugged. "Didn't say anything I wouldn't've said to her face."

"I'd believe that," Adam replied flatly.

"Excuse me, Sir." Bishop looked to the General, and as Adam turned his attention to the android, he continued. "I overheard Ms. Aran and Lieutenant Ripley speaking last night. Ms. Aran's son was supposed to be aboard her ship, but he appeared to have gone missing. She was about to leave to find him when Lieutenant Ripley insisted on following her so they could search for the girl Rebecca Jorden as well."

Adam's lips became thin as he listened to Bishop with heated anticipation. "Samus's son is missing? And she left with Ripley? And they thought this was a good idea?"

Bishop shook his head. "Ms. Aran did not. She was very specific about that, but Lieutenant Ripley would see herself dead before allowing anything to happen to that child and insisted upon going out whether Samus was with her or not."

Irritation showed too clearly in the General's gray eyes as he stared at the android. "Samus is not taking this well. Believe me. I know her. Ripley doesn't know what she's just gotten herself into. If Samus is out there and finds out something has happened to that boy—" He stopped as he stared Bishop straight in the eyes. "I need to go after her." As the General attempted to stand, he found himself suddenly being held down.

"Woah, hold on there, General!" Vasquez said as she gently pushed him down. "You are in no shape to be running after that bounty hunter, old man!"

"What did you just call me?" Adam glared daggers at the young marine, although he made no further attempts to stand up.

Vasquez rolled her eyes as she leaned forward on one knee to face him squarely. "Look, your back's fucked up. You stay here with the doctor, and I'll take Bishop to go find Ripley. If Aran's freaking out or something, I'll get Ripley outta there so that super-powered cyborg can go blow up half the planet if she wants to, and we'll all be safe."

Adam stared at her. "You would do that?"

Vasquez grinned. "It's really no problem. I'm sick of being cooped up down here, and I wouldn't mind seeing Aran in action."

The General studied Vasquez and was about to say something when he was interrupted by Portia.

"If you don't mind," the doctor interjected in her timid tone, "I would like to accompany you out there… I'm supposed to be the alien species expert on this trip and… well, all I've done so far is hide."

"And get knocked out," Vasquez added.

Portia shot her an irritated look. "And get knocked out. Right."

"Dr. Grey," Adam said calmly, "are you sure that's something you want to do? You're not exactly—"

"I was ready to go on my first deployment," she replied, sitting up a bit more confidently. "I prepared myself for that. That's what this is supposed to be. I want to help and not just be dead weight around here. I have the training to at least protect myself. Do you have some kind of objection to that?"

Adam waited a moment before shaking his head. "No. I have no objections."

"All right," Vasquez said, snatching up her rifle and getting to her feet. "If he's good with it, I'm good with it. We'll leave Bishop and the General here, and you and I will head out and rescue Ripley from Aran."

Adam frowned. "That's not what you're doing."

The marine shrugged. "Whatever. Rescuing Newt from aliens, rescuing Ripley from aliens, rescuing aliens from Aran. It doesn't matter as long as I get out of this claustrophobic shithole."

Portia stood more slowly as she looked to Adam for a sense of reassurance, but his impassive face bore none. "We'll try to be back soon, Sir."

The General just nodded, watching the doctor and wondering about something.

"Proceed with caution," Bishop said softly as he watched the two women walk toward the hatch.

Vasquez laughed as she looked back the android. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to her."

Adam didn't say anything as they grabbed a couple of guns and left, sealing the hatch behind them. He suddenly found himself questioning a lot of things, although he could not quite put his finger on what. Usually, he was fairly good at predicting people's movements and figuring out what was on their mind, but Portia's sudden instance on accompanying Vasquez baffled him. She did not seem like the brave sort, but he thought perhaps he had underestimated her. After all, it had been years since he had been around anyone heading to their first deployment into hostile territory, and usually things did not go as badly as they did here.

"Excuse me, Sir," Bishop interrupted his thought process.

"How can I help you, Bishop?"

"As we will likely be down here without the others for a while, I was wondering if I could interest you in a game of chess? We found a holochess set down here a while back, but no one's been very interested in playing."

Adam laughed lightly as the android's suggestion. "That's a change of pace from what's been happening."

Bishop smiled almost sadly. "Not for those of us who don't sleep."

The General nodded with a small smile. "Sure, Bishop. I'd be happy to play with you."

* * *

The sun was already rising as the two women approached the mines. Ripley led the way, more familiar with the colony than Samus was, but the bounty hunter was the one keeping an eye out for clues. Samus had calmed down a good deal from how she had been when they found her ship, but that did not mean Ripley was comfortable around her yet.

The flight officer walked quietly along, a few steps behind the hunter as she studied the unique golden armor and wondered about the woman inside of it. It had to occurred to her a couple of times on this trip that the pretense of searching for a lost son might be a very elaborate ruse to get Ripley alone long enough to have her impregnated by one of the facehuggers. If an established officer like Carter Burke had decided it was worth risking his life and his career for the price one of those aliens would fetch with the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, there was no telling what a bounty hunter would be willing to do for it. She could very easily be luring her toward a nest of eggs, and if one of the creatures latched onto Ripley, the bounty hunter would have a perfectly good excuse to cryogenically freeze her and transfer her back to the research base so they could remove it.

"Hey, Aran." Ripley called out to the bounty hunter as they approached a row of vacant houses. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?" Samus called back, not bothering to turn and look at the other woman as she continued studying the buildings they passed.

"Say we run into one of those facehuggers, the ones that come out of the eggs and impregnate you… and say they get one of us. What would you do about it?"

"Depends." Samus continued to walk and study her surroundings, her arm cannon raised and ready.

"On what?" Ripley's curiosity was peaked as she waited for the response.

"Well," Samus said, finally slowing down and turning for a moment to look at the flight officer. "If it got in you, I'd kill you and destroy it. And if it got in me, I'd have to destroy myself."

That was not the response she expected. "You wouldn't try to freeze me and take me to a Federation hospital or something?"

"Not unless I wanted a xenomorph outbreak on a Federation research vessel. I'm not letting a single one of them off this moon unless they do it over my dead body."

"Not even if they've got a good bounty on them?"

Samus came to a full stop and turned to regard the flight officer. "I understand that I may be a mercenary, and what that translates to in your world is that I'm willing to kill someone just to make money on bioweapons research or anything else I can. But for your information, I'm not. I've had a good career. I'm a fairly wealthy woman at this point in my life. I do not need nor do I want that kind of blood money. Bringing a creature like that into Federation territory would be reckless and put countless civilian lives at risk. Not to mention the number of intergalactic laws that I would be violating."

Ripley stared at the bounty hunter, her brown eyes locked on Samus's face despite the helmet. "I'm holding you to that statement."

"Do as you wish. I know first hand what comes from messing around and bringing dangerous alien life forms back to base. I got a whole research station killed like that once, and it's something I swore I would never do again. And that might not mean anything to you, Lieutenant Ripley, because you think I'm enough of a cold-blooded killer that the deaths of those scientists don't still haunt me, but it means something to me. I'm not here to sacrifice you or Vasquez or that little girl. That's not what I do. I've dedicated my life to protecting this galaxy and its citizens and I'm not about to throw that away to add a little extra padding to my wallet."

As Samus finished speaking, she realized she was almost shouting, and as she took a breath, she stared at Ripley who looked back at her with an unwavering forcefulness. She realized it was the first time she had spoken about the disaster on the Ceres Station following her decision to bring an infant metroid back from her raid on the planet SR-388, and it was the first time she had acknowledged aloud the part she had played in the deaths of all of the researchers onboard that station when Space Pirates had attacked it to steal the last metroid.

"All right, Aran," the flight officer said after a moment, relaxing her guard slightly. "I guess I'll have to take you at your word." Turning away from Samus, she looked out over the empty streets. "But hush… keep it down now. Voices carry."

The bounty hunter just nodded as she turned back to scanning the area. They walked along in silence for a while as Samus thought about what Ripley seemed to be implying. More likely than not, someone at some point had likely either tried that same scheme she had accused Samus of wanting to carry out. Someone had betrayed her and tried to sacrifice either the flight officer herself or someone close to her to make a quick buck off of bringing back a live xenomorph for study. Though she did not say anything aloud, Samus wondered if whatever had happened to make Ripley so guarded had anything to do with the deaths of Adam's crew and the attempt on his life. Still, it did not make sense to blow up an entire Army ship if the perpetrator was trying to bring back an alien.

Samus was pondering the logistics of how a botched attempt at capturing a xenomorph could have led to the explosion, but she quickly snapped out of her thought process when she noticed something odd about one of the buildings.

"Ripley," she said quietly, pointing to a door that looked like it had been forcibly opened. "There's some of that slime on the door."

The flight officer stopped as she readied her rifle. "I see it."

Samus scanned the slime as she positioned herself protectively between the dark building and Ripley as the two of them proceeded toward the door. From inside the building, Samus could distantly hear something making screeching sounds and scuffling as though trapped within something. The sound echoed loudly as they stepped into the front room of the building. It appeared to have been a lobby for an office of some kind, perhaps some kind of administration building for the mines nearby.

Silently, the bounty hunter pointed toward the far wall where it looked like something had torn a hole straight into the sides of one of the ventilation shafts that ran along the ceiling. Whatever was making the screeching noises was stuck inside the vents. Ripley just nodded as Samus switched to her x-ray visor to see what was in there now.

Unsurprisingly, Samus saw the skeletal outline of a xenomorph. It looked like it had crawled into the vent system as if chasing something, but it had gotten stuck at a point where the shaft narrowed. Fortunately, there did not seem to be any remains from whatever it had been chasing.

"You said Newt liked to crawl through vents?" Samus quietly asked her companion, her eyes still on the outline of the creature stuck in the wall.

"Yeah." The other woman came forward to stand beside her, but the hunter's arm shot out to keep her back.

"You might want to move for what I'm about to do," Samus said as she began charging a plasma beam in her cannon.

Ripley did not need to be told twice. She got well out of the way as Samus jumped into the hole the creature had torn in the shaft. The bounty hunter's wide shoulders prevented her from getting too far, but she was able to reach forward with her free hand. As she backed out of the wall, the sound of claws being dragged against metal echoed cacophonously through the building, and she emerged pulling the creature by its spiny tail. With a forceful yank, the armored hunter pulled the entirety of the alien out of the shaft and slammed it hard into the ground as she jumped onto its exposed stomach, thrust her cannon into its head, and finally released the fully charged shot of plasma.

With a fiery blast and a haunting scream, most of the creature's head was melted in an instant. As the room filled with a smell like burning flesh, Samus continued firing plasma into its body until only a smoldering heap of waste remained. Ripley stared in silence for a while as the bounty hunter stood over her kill. She had seen Samus kill one alien already, but it was still shocking to see what the warrior was capable of. It was strange to think that at one time, a single xenomorph had wreaked havoc upon the crew of the  _Nostromo_ , killing most of them as they were defenseless against it, and here this lone woman had taken one out as easily as Ripley might don a powerloader and move around boxes on the landing dock. There were no words to describe her reaction.

"You coming?" the bounty hunter asked as she finally turned her head to the other woman.

"Into the vent?" Ripley asked, looking between the vent and the armored woman in confusion. "Can you even fit in there? Your suit doesn't look particularly amenable to crawling."

Samus laughed and just smiled to herself behind the visor.

 


	14. Into the Mines

"You'd think this fucking place would look less creepy when the sun's up," Vasquez huffed in annoyance as she and Portia continued through the debris-laden streets of what was once Hadley's Hope. "I mean, this place looks like a bomb hit it. I can't believe it was just those bugs."

"Bugs?" Portia asked curiously, looking over to Vasquez. The doctor held her small sidearm loosely in her grip. "You mean the xenomorph species?"

"Yeah," Vasquez said, pointing her pulse rifle out at invisible enemies in the distance. "I'd at least like to use a few of them for target practice if Aran hasn't picked them all off yet."

Portia nodded and suppressed a shudder. "I would not want to be in the room alone with her and any of those things. Both are scary enough by themselves."

"What?" Vasquez raised an eyebrow at the young doctor. "You've never even seen a xeno. How would you know what they're like? I carried your unconscious ass down to that bunker, remember?"

"Oh…" Portia laughed nervously. "I guess hearing y'all talk about them and reading the reports Lieutenant Ripley sent us on the  _Nostromo_  incident… I feel like I know them."

"Trust me," Vasquez snarked, throwing one of her arms that had gotten stiff from carrying the heavy gun. "You don't know shit 'til you've come face to ugly face with one. And Aran? You didn't seem too creeped out by her the other night when you were getting all buddy-buddy with her down in the bunker."

"I don't know if 'buddy-buddy' is the right term for it." The doctor shook her head. "She's really a fascinating sort of creature. A super soldier like you might read about in a comic book or something… She seems nice enough, but I really don't know if I can trust something… someone that was made in a lab."

"She wasn't made in a lab," Vasquez said as something in the distance caught her eye and she waved to Portia to take cover by a nearby building. "She was just fixed up in one. And whatever. I don't care if she's got fins and a tail if she's fighting on the same side we are, then she's all right by me."

"What did you see?" Portia asked as she slipped into a doorway, Vasquez following close behind.

"Don't know," the marine said as she looked through the scope of her rifle. "I think I caught sight of—"

Portia screamed suddenly as the door to the building swung open and two skeletal black arms reached out to grab her. The whole thing happened so fast that Vasquez barely had time to pivot around and fire a shot at the xenomorph's head. As Portia kicked at the creature to get away, Vasquez's shot missed doing any serious damage, but it scraped past the side of its head just enough that the alien screamed and Portia was able to kick out of its grasp and tumble to the ground.

As the doctor rolled out of the creature's reach, Vasquez fired off a three round burst at the alien, and while the shots landed, the creature seemed to shrug them off. It lunged forward through the blasts, and Vasquez had barely enough time to jump back. Portia crawled behind a pile of busted up concrete and debris and tried to cock her little sidearm, but her hands were trembling.

As the doctor finally got up on her knees and tried to aim, Vasquez was firing off another three round burst from her automatic. Two of the marine's shots landed, but she was not able to duck out of the way in time before the xenomorph's spear-like tail whipped around and cut her deep across the chest. Portia screamed and dropped her gun as Vasquez fell to the ground clutching her wound. At the sound of her screams, the xenomorph turned for a moment to regard Portia as the doctor stood frozen in fear at the sight of the grotesque skeletal creature. Its putrid mouth opened in a roar as a small silver mouth emerged from it and hissed at her.

Portia could feel her chest constricting, but she could not move, immobilized in terror as the creature stared at her, Vasquez lying at its feet. She was certain she would be killed, but within an instant, the xenomorph turned its attention from her, snatched up the body of the injured Vasquez, and skittered back into the dark building from which it had emerged.

It was gone faster than it had appeared, leaving the doctor standing alone, still paralyzed with fear and staring at where it and the marine had been only seconds before. As the shock and realization of what had just happened hit her, Portia crumbled to her knees and fell forward onto her hands as she propped herself up on all fours and vomited onto the dusty street. She was shaking violently and crying, coughing, and dry heaving until well after there was nothing left in her system.

As she finally started to calm down, she stared only a few feet in front of her where the gun she had been too scared to fire laid where she dropped it. Portia stared at it for a long while as she tried to slow her breathing, and nearly half an hour passed before she reached for the gun and attempted to get back onto her feet.

* * *

Ripley stared blankly at Samus after the two women emerged from the vent shafts. The armored warrior stared back silently, her face unreadable as the helmet masked her amusement.

"What—" the flight officer began before closing her mouth, shaking her head and staring off into the mines below them. After a moment, she turned back to Samus, bewilderment still all over her face as she looked the bounty hunter up and down again. "What exactly…  _was that_?"

"It's called the morphball," Samus replied calmly, still amused at the flight officer's confusion.

"Okay…" Ripley said slowly, not taking her eyes off of Samus. "The name makes sense but… how exactly does it work?"

"That," the bounty hunter replied with a small laugh, "is a secret I take with me to my grave."  _Mostly because I'm not entirely sure,_ she thought to herself.

Ripley stared at her for a bit longer before shaking her head and turning away. "I just don't get it."

"Neither does anyone else." Samus looked out over the mines. The two women stood on some sort of platform above them with a rickety looking stairway hewn into a rock face leading down to the ground level. There were drills and trucks near the openings to mine shafts, but no sign of whatever substance they had been searching for. "What kind of mining colony was this?"

Ripley shook her head, also looking down into the shafts. "I'm not sure. Some kind of energy source or something."

Samus looked over to her. "Afloraltite?"

The flight officer shook her head. "No. I've heard of that. It was something else… something alien I think."

"The Chozo," Samus muttered to herself recalling their unique energy technologies.

"The what?" Ripley glanced at the bounty hunter.

"The Chozo… a bird-like alien race. They're extinct now but… they had unique energy sources. Things humans could never imagine, let alone build for themselves. They had a settlement on this moon." As if on cue, a message popped up on Samus's HUD.

_Chozo energy signature detected._

A map appeared suddenly, showing her location and marking the energy almost directly below her down in what would be the mines.

"That's it," Samus said, putting the pieces together as she was filled with a mixture of curiosity and anger. "They were mining Chozo artifacts."

"Chozo artifacts, huh?" Ripley asked, looking back down into the mines. "That must have made some really good shit for Weland-Yutani to want to go after the nest of a bunch of dead birds."

"You shut the fuck up," Samus growled, glaring daggers at the other woman, her eyes now visible through the green visor. "That's my people you're talking about, and I don't need you shitting all over their legacy as we're standing over the site where your fucking company is desecrating the remains of their temples."

Ripley stared up at the bounty hunter in shock, guilt suddenly washing over her as she cursed her own carelessness. "I'm sorry, Aran. I had no idea. I really didn't mean to disrespect your people."

The bounty hunter shook her head. "It's just Samus."

"What?"

"Just call me Samus. 'Aran' is what they called me in prison and in the army, so it's weird hearing people call me that now."

"Right… is Samus what the Chozo called you?"

The bounty hunter looked legitimately confused before she realized why Ripley was asking that. "No… Samus is a human name. I think it's some weird feminized version of 'Seamus'. My Chozo name… well, it wouldn't sound like anything comprehensible to you. I think it translates roughly to 'Hatchling' in your language."

Ripley nodded. "Seamus Aran? So you're Irish?"

"What?"

"Irish."

"What's that? You mean like the type of whiskey…?"

The flight officer shook her head. "Never mind. We should get back to looking for the kids, anyway."

Samus just nodded, turning to the treacherous-looking stairway with its primitive rope handrail. The two women made their way down quietly, the bounty hunter scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary or any clues as to whether or not the children had been there.

"Hold up," she said, holding an arm out in front of Ripley halfway down. "There's slime on the ropes."

"Shit," Ripley hissed. "Now I'm hoping we've been on the wrong track looking for those kids."

Samus's eyes darted down to the base of the steps where the stone gave way to a soft, sandy ground. Spotting two sets of footprints, she scanned them. "They were here," she said grimly, following the footsteps to the grate Hector and Newt had climbed down earlier. "They got into that grate somehow… there was a creature following them but… it's odd." She scanned the steps as she spoke. "It's like the moment it saw them going down the grate, it stopped chasing them and let them go. It could have easily overtaken them or opened the grate itself. Why did it let them go?"

"It doesn't make any sense," Ripley said, staring in the direction of the footprints even if she couldn't make them out herself. "Something isn't right about this. Regardless," she said, cocking back her pulse rifle, "our kids are down there, and we need to go after them."

"Agreed," Samus replied as the two women went back to walking down the stairs. The bounty hunter's heart raced in her chest. She knew something wasn't right about this whole situation. Something was definitely wrong, and all of her survival instincts screamed warnings at her as she ignored them and followed the path to where her son had gone.

They were almost to the ground level when they heard the rumbling begin. Ripley's breath caught in her chest, and Samus's adrenaline spiked as they realized what was going on. At the bottom of the stairs, they were surrounded on all sides by the natural rock face, far below the ground level outside of the mines. From all around them, Xenomorphs began appearing from the sides of the cliffs, all rushing into the valley, trapping Samus and Ripley at the bottom of the earthen bowl.

"They did this on purpose!" Samus shouted, shooting plasma blasts at as many of them as she could but barely putting a dent in their numbers as the grotesque creatures stampeded into the area. "That's why they let the kids go. They were luring us down here!"

Ripley didn't say anything as she fired three round bursts at as many of the creatures as she could, but the shots from her pulse rifle were not even as effective as Samus's plasma beam. As the aliens rapidly drew closer, the bounty hunter positioned herself protectively near the flight officer, and Ripley looked up at her companion in solidarity. Death rushed them from every angle, but they both knew that if they were going down, they would be going down fighting. Samus held Ripley lightly out of the line of fire as she released a series of super missiles on the advancing creatures, and while the massive explosions of the missiles put a dent in the aliens frontlines, the horde was so many rows thick, it did not matter. It was as though every alien on LV-426 had converged on what the hive considered to be the single greatest threat to its existence: Samus Aran.

As physical contact with the horde became imminent, Ripley felt Samus's arm grab her around the waist and hoist her up into the crook of her cannon arm. Before the flight officer could tell what was happening, some kind of grappling beam made of blue and purple light shot from a metal device on Samus's free hand, and as it made contact with one of the platforms overhead, they were lifted up at least thirty feet from the ground, dangling by the grappling beam of light as the aliens swarmed the spot on the ground where they had been only seconds before. Realizing that Samus could not shoot as long as she was holding her, Ripley fired round after round into the horde, but no matter how many of the aliens she hit, there were too many of them for her to do anything effective. To her horror, she could see them starting to climb the platforms, only seconds away from where she and Samus dangled above the hungry masses that looked up eagerly awaiting their fall.

Samus seemed to have other plans, however, as the bounty hunter began swinging and eventually released the grapple beam's hold on the platform above. They began to free-fall for a second before she shot the grapple beam out toward another platform and swung them toward it. Using the momentum from the swing, Samus hopped onto a third platform, gently placing Ripley on her feet as both women stood back to back, firing at the aliens below.

Unfortunately, in their haste to defend themselves from below, they forgot to look at the platform above them. By the time Samus realized her mistake, there were two aliens directly above them looking down and hissing with their double mouths. Expecting them to jump down and attack, Samus raised her arm cannon, but she did not have time to fire before one alien ripped into the other using a combination of its claws and spear-like tail, tearing it nearly in half. Samus barely had time to shield Ripley with her body before the acidic blood poured all over the back of her armor, causing the bounty hunter to scream as hot pain burned across her body. The carcass of the dead alien fell on top of her, the sharp appendages of the bleeding corpse cutting into her weakened armor as Samus fell to her hands and knees and then collapsed under the dead alien's weight.

Ripley sidestepped the bloody mess as quickly as she could before turning her rifle-fire to the alien above them, but it skittered out of the way of the blast. In the meantime, more aliens swarmed up to the platforms above them, and she could see the ammo count on her rifle lowering rapidly.

"Come on, Aran!" she shouted, lightly kicking the prone hunter as she fired at the encroaching aliens. "We don't get to die here! Newt and your son need us!"

Her words of encouragement were not needed, however, as the bounty hunter was up on one knee within seconds, shooting her plasma beam and hitting as many of the aliens as she could. Blood flowed from gashes in the back of her armor, but the bounty hunter gave no sign of slowing down as she rose to her feet and lifted Ripley up once more, shooting her grapple beam across to another platform and swinging them both to a surface hewn into the side of the rock face. As Samus set Ripley down this time, the flight officer could see there was a wide air vent inset in the rock.

"You have to go through there," Samus commanded sternly as she continued firing off at the aliens that approached.

"And you're coming with me, right?" Ripley asked, shooting off her dwindling ammo into the hoard.

"I can't," Samus replied. "My armor's been breached and I can't activate the morphball. Besides, we can't both escape through there. These things are here to take me out, so I'll distract them while you escape. I'll protect you until you are out of here, but once you get out the other end, I need you to run like hell and get to Adam. Let him know what's going on here. He knows how to get into my ship, and have him call GFHQ for help. You need to live so you can get them to safety."

Ripley looked at her companion as the swarm rushed ever closer to them, and in that moment she understood why the General felt as strongly about the mercenary as he did. As the golden armored form stood ready to protect her with her life, Ripley undid the vent and crawled into as fast as she could. She paused only to replace the grate behind her as she hurried on her way to escape from the aliens.

Samus stood her ground, firing at anything that came close. She fired multiple rapid shots, each one expertly hitting a target, but despite her masterful marksmanship, there were too many aliens. It was not long before a handful of the creatures got close enough to Samus to slash at her with their claws. The bounty hunter took heavy damage at the sudden onslaught of melee tactics, a particularly well-placed tail spear cutting deep into one of her thighs. She was brought to her knees once more as the aliens overwhelmed her from every angle.

It was only once she was certain Ripley was far enough away that she charged up a plasma blast that erupted with a fury of missiles into her powerful flamethrower attack. Spinning around to hit all of her attackers, Samus unleashed the blast and burned many of the aliens, incinerating large portions of their bodies on contact. Powerful as the weapon was, however, it did not have a very good range, and it depleted missiles quickly.

With no way to escape as more aliens descended upon her from every angle, Samus leapt into the air and out over the crowd using the strength of her uninjured leg. As she fell over the mass of swarming aliens, she fired off a barrage of super missiles straight into the ground below her. The explosions were large enough to blow up many of the aliens, and while Samus was able to clear a spot to land, she was showered in their acidic blood spatter. Not missing a beat, the bounty hunter fired off her plasma flamethrower into the crowd around her, burning a dozen of the creatures into melted unrecognizable forms within seconds.

She was aware her ammo would not hold out very long, but before she had a chance to find an alternative, the ground suddenly began to rumble. As she fired off more super missiles around her, the explosions shook the earth below her and the rumbling intensified. By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late, and a mine tunnel was already collapsing beneath her feet. At the first hint of the quake, many of the creatures realized what was happening and turned, heading for higher ground. But Samus was quickly rushed and overwhelmed by a handful of creatures that tore into her as the ground gave way beneath her. As the ground opened up and swallowed the bounty hunter and several of the aliens, she fought like hell to get them off of her, firing super missiles and plasma blasts frantically in every direction as they fell into the mine's gaping maw and the precariously built platforms crumbled above them, burying them deep in the collapsing mine shaft.

Her heart racing and her body burning, Samus fought the remaining aliens off as best she could, but her strength was failing her. As she struck a hard, rocky surface with her back, an alien crawled onto her vulnerable abdomen and whipped its tail straight into her visor causing it crack.

Panic and rage seizing her, Samus charged her plasma shot one last time, the flamethrower erupting from the nose of her arm cannon and taking out the last three aliens that surrounded her down in the mine. As she tried to get up on her knees and survey her work, the ground beneath her collapsed once more as the hunter tumbled downward into the darkness, bracing herself to collide with another hard surface. But the impact never came, and as she landed again, she found herself falling onto a soft muddy hill and sliding down in deeper into the dark shaft. Too exhausted to fight it, Samus allowed her body to be swept downward until at last the hill ceased and she found herself lying once more on solid but muddy ground.

For a long time, the bounty hunter lay where she fell, her whole body screaming in pain and heavy with exhaustion as her HUD flashed warnings in front of her face. It was only when she noticed the soft glow of orange lights that she opened her eyes enough to look around. At first, when she tried to get up, she fell forward back into the mud, still very weak from the blood lost and flowing from her many wounds. She lay for another moment, but then slowly, she rose once more, making it up to her feet this time as she walked forward toward the orange glow.

Her movements were slow and painstaking, and the deep cut in her right thigh severely impaired her movements, but in spite of the pain, Samus pressed forward. Even though she felt like collapsing and feared it would happen anyway, she willed herself forward into what appeared to be a hallway. Her heart raced as she realized there were Chozo writings and artwork etched into the walls.

As she staggered forward, she finally made it into a large antechamber with a mural painted onto the far wall. Samus recognized the portrait immediately. Two Chozo warriors in armor not unlike her own stood doing battle with what she could only imagine was a giant xenomorph.

Bathed in the soft glow of the orange lights, Samus collapsed onto her knees before the painting, bracing herself on her arm cannon as she placed a trembling armored palm up to the wall. He whole body screamed and hurt all over as she quietly prayed in the language of her long extinct people, begging the Chozo elders for the strength to continue forward and find her son.

And while no divine intervention appeared to sooth the badly wounded hunter, the moment of rest allowed her to eventually summon up her own reserves of strength and rise to her feet once more. Despite her exhaustion, Samus turned to a glowing blue octagonal door on one end of the chamber and fired a regular beam shot at it. The glowing shielding of the door disappeared as it opened from the center and gave her passage. Ready to resume her mission, the hunter raised her arm cannon once more and continued forward through the door. Only the trails and small pool of blood that remained on the stone floor gave any sign that she had been there at all.

 


	15. Aliens

**Chapter 14: Aliens**

Vasquez didn't know where she was when she woke up, but the first thing she noticed was that she couldn't move. Her senses filled with the putrid scent of rotting flesh as her eyes adjusted to the eerie blue light. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized her entire body was enveloped in some kind of slimy cocoon structure that spanned the length of the earthen wall behind her. Only her head was exposed as her hands rested pinned against her body.

The memories came back to her in pieces. Ripley and that bounty hunter were missing. She had opted to go out to search for them with that squeaky little doctor. They had stood too close to a building when something reached out and grabbed the doctor, and then Vasquez had engaged the alien in battle.

But it hadn't ended well. At some point, the xenomorph's tail had lashed out and cut her deep across the chest, and instead of shooting at it, her cowardly companion had frozen up, dropped her gun, and allowed Vasquez to be abducted.

"Fuck this," the marine mutter to herself as the reality of her condition began to dawn on her. "Damn these fucking bugs…"

She was hardly the first person to be dragged off by the aliens, and so far no one had come back from that. Dreading what she would see, Vasquez looked around. In the distance, she could make out faint shadows in the blue light and hear the strange cacophony of xenomorph screeching. The shadows of worker drones bustled back and forth around the shadow of something much larger. And whatever the large thing was moved as though alive but fixed in place.

Vasquez was not sure if she was happy she could only make out the shadows of the aliens as she stood trapped in her slime-covered prison or if she would have rather been able to see the full forms of the aliens themselves. At least then she would know where they stood and what they had planned for her.

It did not take long for the marine to put two and two together as she shifted her gaze away from the blue shadows and to the dimly lit area right in front of her. An eerie mist hung about the ground, and just below it, she could make out rows of leathery oval-shaped structures.

Eggs.

She was trapped in the xenomorph nest, immobilized in their cocoon structure, and simply awaiting use as a host for one of their young. Vasquez swore a string of colorful curses under her breath. It was suddenly clear to her what the stench of rotting flesh was.

Bracing herself for what she knew she was about to see, she turned her head as far as she could to her periphery and bit her tongue in silent horror. Corpses lined the wall, all ensnared in the same gelatinous web she was. They were all in various stages of decay, their faces contorted into the grotesque expressions only possible in death when the tissue hardens up and begins to rot.

On the more intact bodies, she could make out dark stains and torn clothing right in the middle of their chests as though something had burst out from within them. Though she had not seen a chestburster in real life, she had heard about them from Ripley's recounting of the ill-fated expedition of the  _Nostromo_.

With a deep breath, Vasquez looked into the face of the most intact of the bodies, the one directly next to her. Even twisted after several days of death, she recognized the face of Corporal Dwayne Hicks, one of her fellow Colonial Marines and the last one to be dragged off by the aliens before the arrival of the doctor and the General.

"You too, Hicks?" she whispered more to herself than to the inert body as she studied the gaping hole in his chest, dried blood and entrails still visible from the wound. Had she been anyone of weaker constitution, Vasquez would have vomited, but she managed to hold herself together. Anger coursed through her as she turned and looked back to the eggs. It would only be a matter of time before she ended up like her fallen comrade.

Not if she had anything to do with it though.

It seemed to stretch on forever as she stared at the eggs and waited for the inevitable. The silence was only broken by the chattering of the aliens in the distance and the occasional scream of what sounded like a massive xenomorph, far larger than any she had encountered thus far.

Hours passed, but at long last, she saw one of the eggs in the front row begin to move, and she braced herself for what she knew was coming. Slowly, the leathery structure of the egg began to peel back until it seemed to fall open all at once. From the cast-off husk emerged a strange white creature. It resembled a sort of cross between a spider and a crab, but it had a long tail capable of wrapping around a human neck several times over. It crawled forward on its crustaceous, spiny legs, and upon seeing Vasquez, it reared up, showing her the frightening mouth on its underbelly with its several protrusions.

As it began to rush toward her, Vasquez grinned in rage and anticipation. She may have been immobilized and trapped, but her hand at least could reach into the pocket of her pants. For the last hour, her hand had been around a single device: a grenade she had taken off of Gorman's body just before her first meeting with the bounty hunter. Vasquez stared down the grotesque creature as it came for her.

"If you're going to kill me you little piece of shit," she muttered, her finger on the device's detonator, "then I'm dragging you straight to hell with me."

Ignoring her words, the facehugger leapt at her, wrapping its tail around her throat and latching onto her head at the same moment she hit the detonator.

The explosive blast went off with a powerful boom, attracting the attention of the aliens nearby. As the grenade exploded, it took out everything around it, incinerating most of the bodies still hanging from the wall as well as several of the eggs from the closest rows. Other eggs that did remain caught fire, a few premature facehuggers crawling out of their leathery infernos without a host to pursue.

As several of the worker drones ran toward the blaze to try to extinguish the flames, one noise could be heard above all of the chatter.

The xenomorph queen roared in rage as she sensed her young being burned to death.

* * *

"What is that?" Newt asked as she stared at the mural of the anthropomorphic bird alien wearing the infamous red and gold armor.

Hector stared silently for a while as he tried to process where they were. He had thought they were falling into a mineshaft and figured if he found anything it would be uranium or afloraltite. But as he stared up at the image of the avian alien, he realized there was a lot more to this mission than he had previously been led to believe. Perhaps more than Samus knew.

"I think," he said slowly as he took a step toward the elaborately painted wall, "this place has something to do with the Chozo."

"The Chozo?" Newt asked in her hollow voice. "Is that what the monsters are called?"

Hector shook his head. "No, the Chozo are… I'm not really sure actually. Some kind of extinct bird people? My mom is one of them… kinda. She's enhanced with their genetics and stuff."

"So," the girl said quietly, "you're also a Chozo."

"What? Heh… no. I'm human." The boy made a face as he scrutinized the images on the wall. "One hundred percent plain old human."

The ghostly little girl stared up at him. "No, you aren't."

Hector raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not going to argue with you, but I think I know my own genetic status. But whatever. We need to figure out a way out of here or a way to call for help."

"What about that?" Newt pointed over to a strange structure built into an adjacent wall. It was a large octagon that stood nearly eight feet high, and its metal body was shielded by a glowing blue force field. "It looks like some kind of portal."

Hector vaguely remembered seeing something like the strange glowing structure back on his visit to Daiban. It sort of resembled the door on the bounty hunter bar in which he had nearly met his end. It had been such a strange concept to him: a door with no switches, handles, or motion sensors. Bizarrely enough, after trying to figure out how to open it, he had watched another armored bounty hunter walk up to it and shoot the force field to gain entry. He was not sure if this was the same sort of door he had encountered on Daiban, but it was worth a try and they had nowhere left to go.

Pulling Samus's Paralyzer from its holster, he gripped it awkwardly, not really sure how to hold a gun of any sort. Newt took a step back at the first sign of the weapon as Hector tried to remember how he had seen people in movies hold guns. He had never shot before, and with the exception of his misadventures since meeting Samus, he had never even seen a gun fired. He hoped this one did not have a lot of recoil.

Holding the gun with one hand and using the other to support it, he placed his finger by the trigger. "Pull back one click to charge it," he murmured under his breath, "and another to fire."

With a deep breath, the boy prepared himself and pulled back the trigger by one click. It began to glow with a soft pink, and after a moment of charging, the color seemed almost radiant. Looking down the sight to the best of his ability, he pointed the gun straight at the center of the alien door. Bracing himself for the recoil, he pulled all the way back on the trigger.

With a burst of light, a silent beam of energy streaked forth out of the gun, kicking back just enough on Hector to make him jump. As the energy burst collided with the door, the blue force field seemed to dissolve just as he had expected, and the door opened from the middle outward, granting the two children passage.

Newt stared up at Hector as the boy stood staring at the open door. Without a word, the boy and the girl walked through it, Hector holding his mother's gun at the ready in case of an attack. They were not sure what they expected to find on the other side, but as the door closed behind them, relighting the blue force field, they found themselves in another long hallway not unlike the first one.

"How big is this place?" Hector asked aloud to no one in particular. More of the hieroglyphic-like paintings lined the sand-colored walls, and the same bizarre orange lights glowed embedded within them.

The two children, not sure where else to go, proceeded slowly down the eerily lit hallway. Along their way they found more doors like the one they had come through, but some of them had different color force fields protecting them. At one point, Hector had tried shooting a red door, but the shot bounced off and Newt had to duck to avoid being hit by the ricocheting blast. After that, he decided he would only shoot blue doors because the colors of the energy fields clearly marked that they required different weaponry to open.

They walked through the Chozo ruins for what might have been hours, occasionally shooting open a blue door to explore the rooms within. Often, however, the doors only led to single rooms containing bizarre technology he had no idea how to use. Several items appeared to require the presence of a sphere about a meter in diameter, and they had no idea what or where that might be. Occasionally, they stopped to rest. The hallway was cool but not cold, but as their search continued, they could feel a chill in the air as reality struck them about just how lost they were. This was not part of the colony, and Newt didn't know her way around the air vents here. This was a strange labyrinth designed by an alien race neither of them knew anything about except that they had the ability to make weapons as powerful as Samus. Hector silently hoped they would not run into anymore of their weapons here.

The boy was not sure why Newt stopped walking at a certain point, but as he turned back, he saw her staring curiously at a wall. It had been hours since they had first entered the ruins, and both the boy and girl were getting tired, hungry, and very discouraged. At first he thought she might just want to rest again, but he quickly realized there was more to her hesitance.

"Look at this wall," she said in her whispery way. "I think there's something on the other side of it.

The boy walked back to where she was staring. "Yeah, there probably is something on the other side," he replied, short of patience for anything that was not a way out. "But there's a yellow door here, and we can't get through that." He had started to wonder a while back if the color-coded doors denoted some sort of security clearance needed to pass through.

"But there's air coming through this crack," she said, kneeling beside the wall. Sure enough, when the boy looked down, he saw that one of the large sand-colored blocks making up the wall seemed to have deep cracks running through it. Perhaps they were deep enough to let air in from the other side.

"Stand back," he said to Newt as the girl hopped out of the way and he knelt where she had been. Taking the Paralyzer once more, he pulled down once on the trigger and allowed it to charge. As it hit its critical point, he pulled the trigger all the way and aimed for the cracked block.

The weakened stone crumbled easily from the first blast of the gun, though it did not go all the way through. Once more, Hector charged up a shot and fired, busting through the second layer of the sandy wall and revealing a path to the other side. Holstering the gun, the boy got down on his hands and knees and crawled through the new opening, Newt following close behind him. Neither one was sure why having access to this new room gave them any more hope than any of the rooms they had been in before, but there was a certain excitement in getting to see what was on the other side of one of the previously inaccessible doors.

As he stood up, Hector looked around the new room, and what he saw made his stomach tighten in on itself. This room was unlike any they had been in before, and as he walked forward with Newt following, Hector realized it was some sort of a lab.

Long glass tubes stretched from the floor to the ceiling containing inert creatures suspended in some kind of green liquid. As they approached the first tube, Hector saw it contained a strange white creature that looked like a cross between a spider and a large crab, but it had a long tail that was several times the length of its body.

"Facehugger," Newt whispered in horror, staring at the creature like a deer in headlights.

Hector did not bother figuring out what that meant before he moved onto the next tube. It contained another strange alien that looked like a cross between the thing Newt had referred to as a "facehugger" and one of the fully grown xenomorphs that had chased them earlier. It was about the same size as the facehugger, but its structure was more like that of the xenomorph.

"Chestburster," the girl whispered, once again leaving Hector to wonder how she had come up with the names for these creatures. There were other creatures suspended within the other tubes, various lifestages of the xenomorph, Hector assumed, and he was glad they all appeared to be either dead or in some kind of deeply suspended animation. As they approached the far wall, they found a series of holoscreens filled with the writing of Samus's alien language Hector recognized from her ship's controls.

Though he could neither read nor translate the Chozo script, he was able to find several series of pictures, each showing the various stages of the xenomorph's life, but something struck him as odd. They seemed to be comparing the lifestages of the xenomorph to some other alien creature. From what he could gather from the pictures alone, both hatched from leathery eggs, but where the first stage of the xenomorph was the facehugger, the first stage of this other creature was some sort of jellyfish-looking thing with visible nuclei and sharp, fang-like protrusions coming from its bottom. As the images went on, the jellyfish creature seemed to evolve into something that began more and more closely resembling a xenomorph, although it lacked a tail and the creepy nuclei were often visible.

Newt shuddered and stayed close to the boy's side as he shot through another blue door and moved onto a room connected to the creepy lab.

This new room, they quickly found, was very similar to the one they had just left, but there was one very distinct difference. While there were still long tubes running from the floor to the ceiling that contained alien creatures, these tubes did not contain xenomorphs. Starting with the strange little fanged jellyfish, these tubes all contained specimens of the second species.

And they were all very much alive.

 


	16. The Ten of Swords

There was something about Chozo ruins that was always simultaneously comforting and sad to Samus. When she had traveled to worlds like Tallon IV and found the remains of their civilization, there had been something about it that made her feel as though she had reunited with a long last family member. Returning to Zebes had been difficult on both occasions, but there was always a part of it that felt like she was returning home.

Despite the warm feelings, however, there was an intense melancholy that always accompanied her ventures into the world of the Chozo. They were all gone. Where there had once been thriving settlements filled with the bird-like beings, there were now none. Except for Samus. She was the sole survivor of the species, the last Chozo walking amongst their ruins.

Those feelings flooded her again now as she stepped through the door and entered the ruins. Familiar artwork lined the walls, and there were words written everywhere, telling stories in a language only she understood. Many were old legends and laws she had been taught as a child. The construction of the ruins themselves closely resembled those sand-colored block structures of the temples near the Tallon Overworld. Unlike on Tallon IV and Zebes, however, nostalgia mixed with a certain wariness as she looked through the symbols she had known in her youth. They had kept this Acheron colony a secret from her, and their research on the species Xenomorph XX121 too closely paralleled their experiments with engineering the Metroids.

Samus walked slowly, but she kept her cannon raised as she always did on the hunt. The damage to her armor was extensive, and several of her wounds still bled even as she pressed forward. The deep cut in her right thigh made walking difficult and painful, and the cracks in her visor partially obscured her vision. She only removed her helmet once, however, as a deep fit of coughing overtook her and she was forced to lean against a wall to remain standing. Without the helmet, she coughed directly into her armored palm, and as she pulled it away from her face, she saw it was covered in dark blood.

Not wanting to waste any time, Samus put her helmet back on as soon as the coughing ceased and returned to walking through the long hallways. Her HUD continued to flash warnings at her, distorted by the cracks in the visor. Her armor's integrity was severely compromised, and her body's injuries were extensive. Very little energy remained in the reserve, and every bit of it had to go to shielding with none to spare for repairs or healing. It was a less than ideal situation, but Samus tried to ignore it as best she could as she continued her search.

Her son was likely down here somewhere. She had little doubt in her mind that he was somewhere within these ruins after seeing the grate he had escaped through into the mines. Reason told her that he might still be up in the mines, but instinct told her he was here somewhere. She was just not sure what else might be hiding down here.

She switched frequently between her thermal, x-ray, and combat visors, and she was glad they still functioned even if they were not working perfectly. She tried having her suit scan the area for any signs of life, but either there was nothing within range or it just wasn't working right. Neither one would have surprised her at this point.

Considering these were Chozo ruins, she wondered if there was anywhere from which she could draw energy so she could refill her missiles or help the suit start repairing itself. She passed several doors, but most of them were sealed with red force fields, meaning they required a missile to pass through. Not wanting to waste any of her remaining ammo, she reasoned that Hector could not have gotten through any of the red doors. If he still possessed the Paralyzer, he might be able to get through blue doors, assuming he had figured out that doors opened by shooting them. She had no idea if he was familiar with that concept.

She disregarded a couple of green and yellow doors as well. Super missile ammo was low, and the breaches in her armor prevented her from utilizing the morphball or its power bombs. Those breaches would not be closing up anytime soon, she thought bitterly as she came upon a blue door. Hoping desperately for somewhere she could heal herself, she shot the door and stepped through as the force field faded and the large octagonal structure opened from the middle outward.

This room was not particularly large, and it did not appear to contain any other exits. There were simply a few computer systems on the far side. The orange outline of a Chozo's palm glowed softly on one of the panels, and as Samus placed her hand upon it, several holoscreens appeared. The screens were filled with Chozo writing, and she scanned them so she would have records of them later. Glancing over the words on the screen, she saw they pertained to the Xenomorph XX121 project, describing its various life stages starting with a strange crab-spider that latched onto the face of a host and ending with the massive xenomorph queen.

Samus pondered that for a moment. With as many xenomorphs on this planet as there were, there must be a queen somewhere laying eggs. She thought back to her battle with the Metroid queen several months back. It had been a damn near impossible fight, and it had required her to roll into the belly of the massive beast and lay a series of bombs. She was fortunate to have survived the encounter, believing at the time that the queen was the last Metroid in the universe. That was until she found the infant Metroid that had mistakenly imprinted upon Samus as its mother and followed her like a confused child.

It seemed from the reports, however, that infant xenomorphs were nowhere near as amiable as their Metroid counterparts. For a xenomorph larva, the first thing it saw upon hatching was its prey, and it would latch itself onto the host's face, impregnating it while simultaneously keeping the host alive through a crude form of life support system. Not that it mattered. As soon as the host's role as an incubator was finished, the larva would tear through and emerge from its body.

Not learning much from the data, Samus turned and left the room. She must have pivoted a bit too quickly because she felt suddenly lightheaded and needed to steady herself before continuing. Even if she wanted to pretend she was not injured, her condition was asserting itself more forcibly now, but Samus continued trying to ignore it. She could not rest until her son was safe. Then she would take him back to her ship where he could be safe and she could try to patch herself up enough to go back for the rest of the survivors.

Continuing down the hall, she glanced again at the Chozo paintings on either side of her. They did not seemed as worn out as the ones on Tallon IV had, and she figured they had been done more recently. She knew that the Space Pirates had destroyed Zebes, killing the Chozo on that planet, and she knew the Tallon IV colony had succumbed to the phazon crisis. Had the xenomorphs killed the surviving Chozo here? Or had they perhaps ascended to some higher plane as Old Bird had once told her Chozo did at the end of their lives. She was not certain how that was different than death, but spirituality had never been her strong suit.

When she came across another blue door, Samus felt slightly relieved, although it felt very far away. Forcing herself forward to it felt like walking up a steep hill despite the level ground. She tried to keep her mind off of the heaviness and exhaustion she felt in her limbs.

Finally reaching the door and entering the room, she found it was slightly more helpful than the previous one. A large machine sat in the center of the room with a long slot just the right size for her arm cannon. Placing her cannon into the slot, she watched the machine come to life. It glowed with orange holoscreens as a message flashed on her HUD to let her know she had acquired the map data for the area. Additionally, she scanned another holoscreen in the corner of the small room, and she was surprised to find that rather than information on Xenomorph XX121 or the Acheron colony, it was an early design template for Metroid.

The thought that Metroids could somehow come into play in this mess sent chills down her spine, but she reminded herself that there were no more Metroids. She had seen to that personally.

Rather than immediately stagger back out into the hall, Samus decided to take a quick breather and look at the map. Leaning heavily against a wall, she pulled the map up on her visor, irritated by the way the cracks distorted the picture. Despite that, however, she was able to get a fairly good view of the layout of the ruins. Apparently, they were much more expansive than she had initially suspected and her tired muscles silently groaned at the thought of walking through all of them.

Fortunately, she decided it would be more efficient just to use a process of elimination analysis. There were four different entrances to the ruins, and she was easily able to find the one through which she had entered. If her son had entered the ruins through the grate in the mine, she figured he would have come in through a certain entrance that corresponded roughly to that location. It was not too far from where she had entered, and she wondered if perhaps she was closer to the boy than she thought.

Taking a few extra seconds to rest before leaving, Samus went back out into the hallway. At least now she had a map and a general direction in which to look. She did not know how long the boy had been in here or whether he had decided to wander around or stay still. It would have been smarter for him to stay the entrance through which he had entered, assuming their were no enemies around, because that way she would have been able to find him more easily. But knowing the boy the way she did, Samus was certain he had wandered off and tried to find his own way through the ruins.

At some point, she was going to need to sit that child down and give him a stern lecture about staying put when she left him somewhere. On the other hand, she wasn't really sure a stern lecture was the answer. She'd tried talking to him when he had run off to outer space looking for her, and she didn't think she could have been any clearer about staying on the ship. Perhaps a stronger punishment was in order, but she was not really sure how to go about doing that, neither having raised a child nor having been raised in any traditional style herself. The boy's father, she figured, would be more likely to lash out at her over this than at their son. There was no doubt in her mind about that.

Keeping her mind busy thinking about the boy was helping to keep it off of the pain she was in. She had started to zone out a little when she was jolted back into reality by a message popping up on her HUD.

_Bio-signs detected ahead._

The map appeared automatically, zooming out and indicating the source of the bio-signs in relation to where she was. They seemed to be coming from multiple locations, a smaller signal coming from farther away and a much larger signal coming from a room not far from where she was marked "Lab IX". It appeared to be sealed behind a yellow door, indicating she would need power bombs to open it, but if there was one thing Samus had learned from her expeditions over the years, it was that she did not always necessarily need to open a door to get into a room.

Taking it as a hopeful sign, Samus picked up her pace as she headed down to Lab IX. With the help of the map, it did not take her long to get there, and she was excited to find that it looked like someone had either bombed or shot their way through some unstable blocks at the base of the wall. Scans told her that the area was still warm with the signature of an energy-based weapon, and she was certain it was the Paralyzer gun she had lent to Hector. Warm excitement flooded into her chest, but she tried to rein it into a cautious optimism.

The hole in the wall was small enough for a human to crawl through, but there was no way for her to get through it without the morphball unless she removed her armor. The prospect of leaving her already injured body vulnerable as she crawled into an unknown room did not sit well with her. Still, if her son had crawled into the room, he had not had power armor to protect him, and she could always reactivate it once she got to the other side.

With a deep breath and a heavy sigh, Samus deactivated her armor, nearly falling to her knees before catching herself and leaning against a wall. Blood loss had left her very weak, and without the suit's functions, it was difficult just to stay standing. Still, she willed herself on in spite of her condition as she used the wall to brace herself as she lowered herself onto her hands and knees, drawing her sidearm and keeping it in front of her as she entered the small tunnel. Crawling took a considerable amount of effort, and even as she reached the other side, she had to stop for a moment to breathe. It occurred to her that she lacked the strength to stand without the aid of the powersuit, so she rose up on one knee and reactivated it before standing upright.

She still was not quite steady on her feet when the horrific realization of where she was hit her. Long glass-like tubes ran from the floor to the ceiling, and xenomorphs in various stages of development floated in some sort of green liquid within them. At first, the specimens appeared to be dead, but a quick scan let the hunter know they were merely in suspended animation. Samus's heart raced as she walked amongst the displays, scanning each stage of the creature's life into her suit's database before turning her attention to a set of computers along the wall.

Active holoscreens filled with Chozo writing documented the development of the species Xenomorph XX121, but more disturbingly, they paralleled its lifestages to those of its newly engineered counterpart: Metroid. Samus felt sick to her stomach as she read through the logs chronicling how they had engineered the Metroids using the xenomorphs as their templates. Images of the different lifestages of Metroid accompanied those of the xenomorphs, and Samus scanned every last bit of data, ready to go through it in more depth at some point on her ship.

The last log was perhaps the most disturbing though. As she scanned, she read it thoroughly, her lips pressed tightly in cold, seething rage.

_Data Log: 10.4.2204 (Zebes)_

_Species: Humanoid_

_Chozo Script Translated_

_Metroid is progressing smoothly. At this point, we have been able to bring about an actual reduction to practice of both its larval and Alpha stages. There are many areas in which future specimens could be improved, but we digress. As its predecessors, the unwieldy xenomorphs, it appears quite temperamentally unfit for use as a controlled bioweapon. While we have been able to induce a form of bond between it and our Mother Brain, we believe any absence of the AI will cause the creatures to become instantly feral. Left to the wild, we believe they would form hives with a queen at the center, which could actually prove to be beneficial on SR-388 should we choose to execute the final stages of the anti-X operation._

_Still, they are not suited as any form of domestic protection for our dwindling colonies._

_Several of the Council were considering temporarily suspending the Metroid project when Elders Old Bird and Grey Voice returned early this morning with a new specimen. It's small and infantile, and it appears incompatible with life on Zebes. The suggestion was made that the Elders simply return it to one of its own species' planets, but Grey pointed out the serendipity of the situation. The specimen had apparently been orphaned in a Space Pirate raid, and none of its kind would be searching for it._

_Temperamentally, the young creature appears social and receptive. The Council has made the decision to keep this hatchling and raise it as a Chozo. We will be altering its genetics so that not only will it be able to survive on Zebes, it will also become much more receptive to future genetic alterations should we choose to further alter it to create a new form of bioweapon. Our studies in the Kanto Sector uncovered a small, brown, quadrapedal mammal with a changeable sort of genetic coding that causes it to mutate accordingly when exposed to various elemental stones in the region. We are engineering a form of mutation based on that mammal's genetic structure, which we hope will be compatible with the humanoid hatchling._

_With its gentle nature and its species' sense of social loyalty, we have little doubt that this creature could serve as an excellent prototype for a new form of bioweapon. Our scientists give it a favorable chance to survive the experiment, close to 40%._

As Samus finished reading the Chozo log, she could feel a tension building in her chest, but it was not anxiety this time. Instead, the hunter's body filled with the hot ire of pure rage. Not caring about her limited ammunition supplies, she angrily shot a barrage of missiles into the computer terminals causing them to explode upon impact. Blue sparks rained through the air as orange lights flickered out for the last time and the twisted metal of what were once computers burned in a slowly consuming flame.

As smoke filled the air, the bounty hunter coughed, the crack in her visor allowing the smoke to get in. As the coughing continued, she could taste blood in her mouth and forced herself to swallow it to avoid having to remove the helmet again. Not wanting any more smoke exposure than necessary, she turned her attention back to the mission at hand and shot through the blue force field of a door on the back wall of the lab.

She was not sure what she was planning to find in the new room, and her anger-addled mind had not been too focused on trying to predict what it would be. To her surprise, she found the last thing she had expected as the door closed behind her.

Before her stood Hector, protecting a small blonde girl as he awkwardly held the Paralyzer pointed up at the mercenary. Samus stared at him for a moment, in shock, as she watched his eyes grow wide as he lowered the gun.

"Samus!" the boy yelled as he stepped forward, and the little girl stared at him in confusion. "Samus, you found us!"

At a loss for words, Samus closed the distance between her and her son as she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Her breathing was heavy as tears filled her eyes and the weight that had been crushing her chest felt as though it had finally been lifted. Her emotions turned on a dime from an unrelenting rage at the Chozo to a deep joy and love for her child as she lifted him off the ground and spun him around once.

"Hector," she said, setting the boy down. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Me too." He grinned. "Thank you so much for—"

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" She growled, looking down at the boy.

Glancing around, the bounty hunter realized they were in a room filled with live Metroids suspended in the same glass tubes as the xenomorph specimens in the other room. Roughly half a dozen Metroids stared back at them, ranging in life stages from larva to a very nasty looking Omega Metroid in the back of the room. Like the xenomorphs, they seemed well contained, but unlike the xenomorphs, they were awake and active.

"Seriously, what the hell, Hector?" She continued, looking between the boy and the Metroid specimens. "I tell you to stay on the ship where you'll be safe, and then you wander off on this shit hole of a moon? And then after searching for you for hours, I find you in a room with fucking Metroids? Metroids, Hector! Only you could find something so ridiculously dangerous! They're supposed to be extinct!"

Hector stared up at her in embarrassment and confusion. "I'm… I'm not really sure what a Metroid is…"

Samus shook her head and gestured forcefully at the hungry looking specimens in the tubes. "Those fucking things!"

"I'm sorry…?" Hector looked confused as he stared at his mother. "In my defense, we were trying to escape from those other creepy aliens and ended up here." Remembering the girl, he turned to her. "Samus, this is Newt. She used to live here before the monsters came and destroyed her colony. Her whole family got killed, but she knows how to survive her better than anyone."

Samus looked at the ghostly little girl who stared back at her with her blank face.

"What happened to your armor?" the girl asked in a hollow monotone Samus found oddly unnerving.

"That's not important," the bounty hunter replied. "We have to focus on getting out of—"

Before Samus could finish her sentence, the ruins around them began to shake. As the lights in the room flickered out, leaving them in pitch blackness, she could hear the cracking of glass and the all too familiar "SKREE!" shriek of her mortal enemies.

"Get behind me!" the bounty hunter shouted, pressing Hector and Newt up against a wall behind her as the lights flickered back on, revealing a weapon-proof gray shielding on the only door through which they could escape.

Three Metroids floated in the air before her, two of the regular variety and one evolved into its Alpha stage. Before they could come any closer, Samus fired three ice beam shots in rapid succession, each one landing squarely on its target and freezing it where it hovered. Without missing a beat, the bounty hunter sent a super missile flying at each of the creatures, the two smaller creatures exploding on impact and shattering like glass. The half-shell of the Alpha Metroid protected it from a lot of the damage, and it thawed quickly, rushing straight toward Samus.

Knowing she could not afford to take a direct hit, Samus fired back in rapid succession with her ice beam. Once again, she made perfect contact, freezing the creature into a block of ice as she lit it up with three regular missiles. Finally, it shattered like its fallen brethren, but Samus knew the nightmare had not yet ended.

Whatever had caused the power to fail emboldened the remaining Metroids who stared at her murderously through their glass prisons. One of the larval jellyfish-like creatures remained trapped in its prison pretty securely, but a raptor-like Zeta Metroid was giving its all to break through the glass, and its super-sized older brother, the Omega Metroid, sat biding its time, knowing it had the strength to break through the glass at any moment. It sized up Samus's combat prowess as it waited for its smaller siblings to finish their fights.

Never one to wait around for her enemies to come to her, Samus fired a missile at the Zeta's tank as soon at it became clear the adolescent Metroid would break through. Unlike those before it, it stood on two powerful hind legs, but its arms were short and scrawny. Its head resembled the fangs and mouth of a normal Metroid, but its nuclei rested at its abdomen. Zeta Metroids were also fast, easily the hardest target to hit out of the Metroid family.

Unlike the other times she had faced them, however, Samus did not have her usual agility. The gash in her leg ran too deep, heavily handicapping her mobility. More importantly, she had to protect the children, even if that meant using her own body as a shield.

Not willing to take the chance of getting hit, Samus immediately unleashed a charged ice beam shot on the Zeta Metroid as it escaped from its tube. As soon as it hit, she fired off a super missile and charged up another ice shot. The Metroid was unfreezing faster than she could charge her beam, but at least the ice was slowing it down as she repeatedly sent volleys of charged ice shots and followed up with super missiles. The chance that it could dodge one of her hits, costing her precious ammo, made it a tense fight. But even when the creature did manage to dodge to the side, Samus was on it like a laser, freezing it and following up with a powerful concussive blast.

Their routine went on for five rounds before the final super missile hit, shattering the Metroid on impact. It was the best accuracy she had ever had against an agile Zeta Metroid, and Samus was not sure if it was her drive to protect her son that fueled her or it was simply weak from being captive so long.

She did not have long to dwell on it, however, as the Omega Metroid finally decided to join the fight, crashing through the powerless glass in one sweeping motion. The Omega was like a massive version of the Zeta, but its arms were long and powerful and tipped with claws that would be able to tear through Samus's weakened armor like it was paper. She knew she would not be able to freeze this beast as it towered over her, but she was as ready as she could be. And she knew she would not be getting through this fight without taking a few hits.

As quickly as she could, Samus sent a rapid volley of ice beam shots straight at the vulnerable nuclei in the creature's chest plate as she awkwardly ran toward it. The ice did not freeze the Metroid, but it made it angry and caused it to take a step backward as the bounty hunter charged it. She fired round after round relentlessly, forcing it back to the far wall away from the children.

Once she got just a bit too close, however, the Metroid jumped forward on its powerful hind legs, flying at Samus and slashing her full force with its claws before jumping back. The bounty hunter was thrown backwards, landing forcefully on the ground as blood seeped from a new wound on her chest. Her armor was not holding up, and she knew there was no way this battle would end well for her as alarms started flashing before her eyes. Still, if this was where she met her end, she was going to make sure she took this creature down with her so her son and the girl would at least have a chance to escape.

She was not sure how she was on her feet again so quickly, her body operating faster than she could mentally process as the deep pain of her chest wound clouded her thoughts. But she was on the Metroid again in an instant, shooting ice beam after ice beam into its chest even as the peripheries of her vision began to darken. Once again, when she got too close, the Metroid sprang forward, slashing her deeply and cutting the broken armor into ribbons. This time, as she hit the floor, she knew she would not be getting back up again.

Still, she tried, supporting herself on her arms as she tried to at least get onto a knee, but she was far too weak at this point, and she fell forward painfully. She could feel the ground vibrating with each step it took toward her, but the best she could do was try to point her cannon at it from where she lay prone on the floor.

The Metroid ignored the pitiful couple of ice beam shots she sent at it as it reached down and grabbed the bounty hunter's limp body, her armor now crumbling off of her in its grasp as it raised her above its hideous, putrid head and roared in its dominance.

But the bounty hunter had one last trick up her sleeve, and as it roared she thrust her cannon into its mouth. Mixing her charged ice beam shot with the last of the missiles, she shot a massive ice spreader burst down into its throat. As soon as the shot made contact, it expanded explosively, blowing up the creature from within. Samus's body tumbled to the floor as Metroid entrails rained down on the room.

Her armor was horrifically damaged by the end of the fight, and twisted pieces of her powersuit made it difficult for her to breathe as they cut into her chest. Having no use for the broken armor, she deactivated the powersuit, leaving her in nothing but her torn up flight suit as she lay on the stony ground in a puddle of her own blood mixed with slime and Metroid entrails. As she expected, the blast shield disappeared from the door, leaving only the glowing blue force field once more.

"S-Samus?" Hector called out to her quietly as he took a step toward where she lay.

She hated him to see her like this, and embarrassment mingled with the pain as she turned her head to look up at the boy and girl kneeling beside her.

"I'm all right," she said with far more confidence than she felt. "I heal very quickly." She ignored the fact that her energy reserves were empty. Somehow, she found the strength to prop herself up partially on her elbows as she regarded her son very seriously. "You need to get out of here."

"But Samus—"

"No," she stated very firmly, slipping a watch off of her wrist and handing it to the boy. "I've uploaded the map data into here. You need to find a way back up to the surface and have Newt take you down to the bunker. She knows where that is and what that means. Adam is there. He'll know how to get into my ship. You will pilot it off of this moon and set a distress beacon, understood?"

"But… Samus…" He accepted the watch, not sure what to say. "I can't just leave you…"

"You can," she stated even more forcefully, "and you will. For once, just listen to me, Hector."

The boy looked like he wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the door to the room opened. A tall thin woman with long brown hair stepped through, and Samus recognized the doctor immediately.

"Portia," she called as the younger woman stared in horror at the carnage in the room.

"Samus?" The doctor ran to her side and knelt beside Hector. "What happened to you? I came with Vasquez to search for you and Ripley, but we got separated. I ended up down here somehow and heard the commotion coming from over here."

"It's a long story." Samus dismissed the doctor's inquiries and turned back to her son. "Look, this is Dr. Grey. You and Newt get to Adam, and she'll help me so I can join you in a little while. All right?"

Hector still looked like he wanted to say something, but no words would come as he looked down at Samus.

"Promise me," the bounty hunter demanded, "you'll actually be responsible this time. Get yourself and Newt to safety. And don't let anything happen to you. I don't want to hear about it from your father when we get back to Earth. This pain I'm used to. Dealing with Jack when he goes off on a rant is another story altogether."

"I promise," Hector said with a nod as he and Newt stood. "Thank you, Doctor."

As the boy shot the door, the two children left together. It was not until the door was closed behind them and Samus was certain that they could no longer hear her that she turned to the doctor.

"I'm not okay, Portia," she said very quietly. "Thank you for staying behind to help me." No longer able to support herself on her elbows, the hunter lay back down, breathing slowly and deeply.

"Are you dying, Samus?" the doctor asked, looking down at the other woman with blood and alien guts caking into her blonde hair.

"Possibly," the bounty hunter replied emotionlessly. "I don't actually know how much it takes to kill me, never having actually died before… heh."

"Well, if you can still make smart ass comments, I'd say that's a good sign."

Samus smiled as she closed her eyes, consciousness slipping away from her.

She became instantaneously aware, however, as she felt something long and sharp plunge into her back.

Screaming silently and unable to draw air, she stared horror-stricken up at the doctor as the other woman pulled the bloody knife from her back and stole her side arm. Samus could not speak as she realized Portia had stabbed her and then jumped up to her feet.

"This was supposed to be for the General, you know." The doctor stared at her with hateful eyes as she pointed the handgun at a tank of eggs behind a glass barrier. "Not everything in this room is a Metroid. These are xenomorph eggs. The General would have made a nice host, but you… you're a fascinating specimen, Samus Aran. And you will birth something far more spectacular than a human ever could." With that, she shot the glass out of the tank, exposing the eggs to the air as she headed for the door. "Don't worry, Aran. Someone will be back for you," she said as she disappeared, leaving Samus alone and immobilized with the cache of xenomorph eggs.

The bounty hunter stared at the eggs, her heart racing in terror as she lay completely unable to move. It did not take long before the leathery shell of one of the eggs peeled back. Within moments, the white spider-like facehugger emerged. Unable to scream, Samus could only watch as it moved toward her, slowly at first but then breaking into a full dash as it lunged at her face. Its tail wrapped painfully around her throat, and she was unconscious in seconds as it latched onto her limp body.

Hours passed before she was able to open her eyes again. Her throat burned horribly as she saw the discarded husk of the parasitic alien. She lost consciousness again quickly, though, and the only other thing she saw were the talons of a cloaked figure that stood above her. As her heart stopped beating and the last wisps of life left her body, the chain that held the powersuit snapped and fell from her neck. The pendant glowed briefly for a moment as it tumbled to the ground and went dark. 

 


	17. Deception

**Chapter 16: Deception**

As the daylight changed from its usual state into the golden orange luminescence of dusk, Ripley realized continuing her search was pointless. After Samus had helped her escape from the onslaught of the xenomorph horde, she had not immediately taken the bounty hunter's advice and gone back to the bunker. Perhaps it would have been better to have listened to Samus, she reasoned, but she still had not found Newt and until that task was complete, she could not abandon it. She needed confirmation one way or the other about what had happened to the little girl, even though she knew she might never get it.

Now as the sun began to set, however, she realized the prospects of finding the child were becoming bleaker and her tenuous grasp on hope was slipping. Hours had passed. It had been over a full day since girl had disappeared. The odds were not in her favor. And Ripley was finally beginning to accept that.

The chill in the dusky air mixed with the bitterness of defeat, and she could not rid herself of the aftertaste as she slowly turned and trudged back toward the bunker. Samus had said to tell the General to help them into her ship and call for help. At this point, she wondered if the bounty hunter were still alive. It seemed doubtful that anyone could have survived being swarmed by xenomorphs the way she was. The fact that she had seen no sign of the mercenary since their departure furthered her conclusions.

She was coming up on the building that contained the elevator down to the bunker when she saw two figures walking toward it. At first, she was not sure who they were as the harsh golden light of the setting sun obscured their forms, but as she got closer she could feel her tension dissipating.

"Newt!" she called out, breaking into a run toward the child. She was not sure who the tall young man beside her was, but she figured he must have been Samus's missing son.

"Ripley!" the child called, turning on a dime and rushing toward the flight officer.

Ripley caught Newt in her arms and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

The boy just stood off at a distance watching Newt's reunion with the brown-haired woman. His face was pale and expressionless, but distress showed in his green eyes.

"Ripley," Newt said, pulling away from the flight officer and gesturing toward the boy. "This is Hector. I found him, and we escaped from the monsters together."

Ripley looked over to Hector, reading the grief etched onto his face. "You two came across those aliens?"

Hector nodded. "There were… a lot of kinds of aliens. But Samus… she found us and saved us."

The flight officer regarded the boy quietly as she sized him up. He was around six feet tall with sandy blonde hair, and he looked to be roughly high school age. "You're Samus Aran's son, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"So you ran into Samus and she saved you? Where is she now?"

"She… she didn't make it back with us." His voice quivered a little as he spoke. "She got hurt, but there was a doctor lady there, and she said she'd come back for us once the doctor treated her."

Ripley didn't say anything, but as she looked down at Newt, the little girl nodded sadly. So Samus had survived the xenomorph swarm only to sustain some debilitating injury protecting the children? Then again, Ripley reasoned, the bounty hunter had been wounded before they parted, and if the bloody rips in her jumpsuit were any indication, she had been injured since before Ripley even met her. She marveled for a moment at the hunter's resilience. Given how long she had been on the moon, she had been either exploring or fighting for close to fifty hours straight, not counting the brief period she was in the bunker when she discovered her son was missing. Whatever had hurt her this time probably would not have been able to if she were not already so worn down.

As the sun continued to set, darkness and an unpleasant chill fell over where the little group stood, and Ripley gestured over to the building with the elevator.

"We'd better move this inside," she said, motioning for the children to head toward the bunker. "It's going to be dark in a few minutes, and we can continue this discussion where it's safe."

Nobody said anything as they rode the elevator down in silence. The boy was obviously traumatized by whatever he had witnessed happening to Samus, but what was more disturbing was Newt's response. The little girl seemed completely unfazed by watching the mercenary be mortally wounded by whatever aliens they had encountered. Then again, it made sense. Whatever the child had seen before had likely numbed her to that sort of violence. After seeing everyone she loved and had grown up around killed, it probably did not hurt as much to watch it happen to a complete stranger.

For the boy, on the other hand, as strange as it was to think the mercenary could be a mother, he was her son. Watching whatever happened to Samus would be particularly disturbing for him. She wondered who the doctor was that had appeared. Had Dr. Grey left the bunker at some point? And would they find anyone down there now?

Ripley knew her questions would be answered shortly as the elevator stopped and they stepped out. She opened the hatch and gestured for the two kids to climb through it. Ripley herself entered last, pulling the hatch shut behind her.

To her surprise, the only people she saw still in the bunker were General Malkovich and Bishop. They appeared to be playing holochess, and the General looked a lot more relaxed and comfortable than he had when she had left. His back must have been feeling better.

"Good evening, General," she said with a respectful nod.

"Good evening, Lieutenant Ripley," he replied, staring at Newt and Hector.

"G-good evening… General Malkovich," Hector stammered out, trying to force himself to be polite when it was obvious to Ripley he was fighting back tears. "I'm glad to see you are alive and well."

Adam just nodded. "I could say the same of you three. Now we just need Vasquez, Portia, and Samus to come back."

Hector looked like he was going to be sick at the General's comment, so Ripley stepped in. "There's actually a bit of a problem with that, Sir," the flight officer said. "Samus rescued Newt and her son, but she was apparently badly wounded in the process and couldn't make it back with them."

Adam's face remained impassive, but his eyes were sharp. "How badly was she hurt?" he asked in his calm manner.

Hector's face became paler, and he found himself at a loss for words.

"She's probably dead by now," Newt added in her ghostly tone. "There was blood everywhere and she transformed from a robot into a human."

The adults interpreted the girl's words to mean that Samus had taken off her armor, possibly because it had been damaged to the point at which it no longer protected her.

"Xenomorphs did this to Samus?" Adam asked, looking directly at Hector this time as though trying to compel the boy to speak.

"No…" Hector shook his head. "Xenomorphs… those are the black things with the long tails and creepy double mouths, right? This was something else. Samus called it a Metroid or something."

"Metroids?" Adam's face suddenly lost all pretense of calm as shock hit him. "Are you sure they were actually Metroids? And Samus wasn't just… projecting?"

"Projecting?" Hector shook his head. "I have no clue what a Metroid is. These were a bunch of little jellyfish suckers that looked like they had evolved forms that slowly turned into dinosaurs or something. She kept freezing them with some kind of ice attack."

The General sighed and shook his head. "Those are Metroids all right. Goddammit, who the hell would be stupid enough to be breeding Metroids in this day and age?" He stood up from where he sat, bracing himself against the wall, although he appeared to be moving easily and naturally.

"The bird people," Newt said quietly.

"What?" Adam looked at her in confusion.

"She means the Chozo," Hector said, taking a few steps toward the General. "The Chozo are a—"

"I know who the Chozo are," Adam interjected. "Why would they be breeding Metroids here?"

"Well, Sir, that's the thing," the boy continued. "The Chozo have a whole bunch of ruins on this planet down under the mines. Actually, I think they might be mining Chozo energy sources here. But Newt and I were running from an alien and I fell down into the mines. She followed me, and we ended up at the Chozo ruins. I recognized them because, well… Samus is part Chozo, so everything in her ship is written in their language."

"And you found the Metroids in these Chozo ruins?"

Hector nodded and was about to continue explaining their misadventure when he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the hatch opening behind him. Everyone tensed and turned to look, but it was only Portia slipping in and closing the hatch behind her.

The doctor looked pale and nervous as her slight form climbed down the ladder and looked into all of the eyes that were on her.

"Where's my mom?" Hector asked, stepping toward the doctor.

Portia took a step back. Despite his age and how tall she was, Hector still towered over the slender woman. "Y-your mom? You're Samus's kid?"

"Yeah," Hector replied, looking suddenly angry. "Where's Samus? You said you were going to treat her injuries and help her get back safe. Where is she?"

"And where's Private Vasquez?" The General added, his lips set into a thin line as he stared at the doctor. Something was not sitting right with him.

"Look, kid," the doctor said gently, trying to soothe the angry teenager. "I'm really sorry. I tried to help Samus but…" She looked away and shook her head. "She was hurt pretty bad, and I'm afraid she just didn't make it."

Hector looked like someone had just punched him in the stomach as he took a step backward and seemed to withdraw into himself.

"What happened?" Adam asked, his heart rate rising.

"I-I was trying to treat her," Portia continued, walking farther into the bunker toward him. "But suddenly she just… she was having a hard time breathing. I don't know… something must have been wrong internally, but I didn't have any equipment with me, and I couldn't figure out what to do… Does she have some kind of lung problem?"

Adam's face turned nearly as gray as the streaks in his hair. "She does. She had a severe case of smoke inhalation recently the doctors said could have done permanent damage. She was staying with me while she recovered but… she swore to me she was better… that this wasn't a problem anymore."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I think she was lying to you," Portia continued, shaking her head. "I was going through her jumpsuit's compartments looking for anything that could help. I found an inhaler she had been carrying around, but at that point… well, she had already lost so much blood. I think she just… her body just couldn't handle any more." She stared at the ground sadly. "I'm sorry, General Malkovich. I tried to save her, but I failed."

Adam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lady," he whispered to himself, "why did you always insist on being so reckless?"

As tears threatened to spill from the General's eyes, the doctor turned to the boy. "And for you Hector, I'm so sorry I couldn't save your mom. She told me how much she loved you and how raising you was the greatest thing she had ever done in her life."

Adam's eyes snapped open at that point as he turned to Hector and shook his head at the boy almost imperceptibly. The boy seemed to get the message because he just nodded and said to the doctor, "Yes, growing up with mom was an experience I'll never forget… I just wish we had more time together."

As Hector acted distraught and Portia walked over to try to comfort him, Adam signaled to Ripley with his eyes and she joined him by the far wall.

"What is it, Sir?" she asked, watching the scene between Portia and Hector.

"The boy is as reckless as his mother," Adam whispered so only Ripley and Bishop could hear, "but he's damn perceptive."

"What do you mean?" the flight officer replied quietly.

"Samus wouldn't have said that. She didn't raise him. She only met him a few weeks ago to be honest. She signed away full custody to his father before he was ever born and waived visitation rights. Up until last month, she'd never even seen him, and he had no idea who she was."

"So why would Dr. Grey lie about that?"

"That's what I'd like to know. Carter Burke was a well-respected officer. He risked a lot trying to sacrifice you to bring back an alien. Portia is a nobody, just another military exotic alien specialist, and she seems like she just appeared out of nowhere for this mission."

"You think she did something to Samus? Or that Samus isn't actually dead?"

Adam nodded. "I'm starting to question a lot of things, including why she was the only one who came into the cockpit with me when the bombs went off on my ship. I'm beginning to wonder just how deep this thing goes… Look, Ripley. You and Bishop stay here with Portia and Newt. I'm going to take Hector with me, and he's going to lead me to where he found the Metroids and parted from Samus."

Ripley nodded. "You hear that, Bishop? I'm trusting you for a minute."

The android nodded. "It is my pleasure to protect you and Newt while the General is gone."

On the other end of the bunker, Hector had stopped pretending to accept Portia's comforting as the General came up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Portia," Adam said to the doctor. "I know this might sound a bit counterintuitive, but I'm taking the boy and we're going on a quick supply run. If Samus isn't coming back, we're going to need more guns and ammo, and Lieutenant Ripley just told me about an armory a little way's out."

"A-are you sure?" the doctor asked in surprise. "It's night now, and they mostly come—"

"Yes, I know, Adam interjected, steering himself and Hector toward the hatch. The boy did not ask any questions. "They mostly come out at night, but as we've seen by their attack on Samus, they are just as lethal during the day. At this point it doesn't matter, and we need bigger guns. My sidearm isn't gong to be enough if we want to clear a ship full of these things."

"But… he's just a child."

"I'm Samus Aran's son, Ma'am," Hector stated firmly. "Mom's been training me in marksmanship since I was old enough to hold a BB gun." Gesturing to the unique looking Paralyzer on his hip, he added, "It takes a certain level of skill to handle a firearm like this one."

Portia seemed at a loss for words and just ended up nodding, her face blank.

"We won't be gone long," Adam said softly, "and it will help the boy get his mind straight before we attempt to make a break for it and escape this moon."

Hector and Ripley exchanged covert knowing smiles with one another as the boy and the General climbed up the ladder and through the hatch to begin their search for the bounty hunter.

 


	18. The Body

It had been a long time since Adam Malkovich had actually been in a combat situation. Since the death of his brother and his promotion to General eight years back, he had rarely needed to put his own boots on the ground and enter into the fray. Part of it had to do with his advancing age. At fifty, he was not quite the agile young soldier he had been years ago. But other than that, since Samus Aran's first mission to Zebes eight years ago, he had been something of the Federation's unofficial liaison to the bounty hunter.

It was widely believed that he was the only one capable of controlling the mercenary, but if you had suggested to him that he had any power to control her, he would have laughed. Samus was as reckless and headstrong as they came, but he would readily admit he knew how to talk to her better than most people did. Unlike the other Generals, he had once been her commanding officer for a brief period and understood how she thought. She had been assigned to his unit at the age of sixteen as a last ditch attempt before the Army was going to ship her back to the women's prison they had found her in. Rather than take the easy course and kick her out after her first transgression, Adam had opted instead to take the time to get to know the obviously troubled young woman and tried to work with her.

While she never became a model soldier and was ultimately dismissed a year and a half later when it was discovered she was pregnant, she grew into a fine warrior and went on to have a very successful career as a mercenary. It was Adam's suggestion to send her to Zebes to infiltrate the Space Pirate base, and despite a lot of skepticism from the other high-ranking officials, her performance far exceeded expectations and she went on to save the galaxy several times over. Since no one really wanted to deal with her temper and unpredictability, let alone the fact that her species made people uncomfortable, Adam had unofficially become the one to address her and contract with her on behalf of the Federation.

Few people realized that he and Samus had any kind of relationship outside of their professional one. Since leaving the Army had left her without any kind of home or family, Samus had been a frequent guest of Adam's family. His wife had taken a liking to her immediately, and his daughters always enjoyed her stories of her travels through space. Though they had not seen much of each other toward the end of the Space Pirate War, Samus had very much become a part of their family.

Over the course of the fifteen years since her discharge from the Army, Samus's relationship with Adam had evolved from his role as the closet thing she knew to a sort of paternal figure and into a close friendship. She had become something of a younger sister to him, easing the void left by his brother's passing, but she was also something unique. Of the people in his private life, she was the only one who had actually seen war and combat, and there was an easiness to being around someone who also understood the darkest places his mind could go.

Now as he followed her son to where she had allegedly succumbed to her wounds, there was a sense of dread as he thought about Samus. A sadness that threatened to overwhelm him as he remembered the defiant teenager he had been assigned to command and the ambitious young bounty hunter who had single-handedly taken on a Space Pirate stronghold years later. He remembered watching from the sidelines as she was awarded a Galactic Federation Medal of Valor after the Phazon Crisis, and he remembered holding her when the nightmares came, the invisible scars of combat that plagued her throughout her life.

The idea that she might be gone, that she had been killed on a routine mission so close to him and he could only hear about it secondhand from a woman he had caught actively lying to him… these were ideas he could hardly fathom. He had always assumed her life would end with a bang, not a whimper. Even still, anything was possible, and their enemies certainly had numbers on their side.

"Where did you really learn how to shoot a weapon?" Adam asked Hector after a while of walking through the dark streets. The eerie blue glow of night made for a disconcerting atmosphere, and their silence was not helping matters.

"Honestly?" the boy asked, looking down at the Paralyzer he held defensively. "No one's ever taught me how to shoot. This is my first time holding a gun… The only things I've ever shot were the doors down in the ruins."

"Your father seriously never taught you to shoot?" Adam sounded annoyed. "Remind me to set him straight when we get back to Earth. The son of Samus Aran should know the basics at the very least. Even as well as she hid you all those years, there was always a chance someone could have traced where she sent the child support payments and find you. Better you know how to protect yourself."

"Huh, guess Dad never thought of it like that." Hector was quiet for a little while as he retraced the way to the ruins. After a few minutes, he turned back to the General, something weighing heavily on his mind. "General Malkovich, do you… do you think Samus really didn't make it?"

Adam took a deep breath and sighed. This was the question he had been hoping to avoid. "I don't know. I know she can take a lot… I've cut bullets out of that woman without anything to numb it, and she barely flinched. There are things that can kill a human that she brushes off like bruises, so even if whatever happened to her looked really bad to you, it might not have been as bad as you think."

"But why would Dr. Grey lie about that?"

"I don't know, Hector." The General shook his head. "Maybe something spooked her and she ran off and didn't want us to know she left Samus behind. What happened to Private Vasquez? We don't know that either."

Neither one of them spoke again until they came upon a building that appeared to be the hub of the miners on their way to work. Hector led Adam inside, and they passed through what appeared to be an equipment and locker room as they headed out into the mines. Hector knew exactly which shaft led down to the Chozo ruins, and it was not one of the entrances he or Samus had entered through. It was a third entrance that he shown up on the map data in the watch Samus had given him.

He touched the watch on his wrist subconsciously as he thought about his mother. Up until a few weeks ago, he had no idea he was related to the famous mercenary war hero who had been all over the news for the past eight years. When she had showed up at his father's house, it was completely unannounced, and upon learning her relation to him, he had rejected her and asked her to leave. It was not until later that day when he was visiting Abby Malkovich that he came across his mother again, and that time he was willing to sit down and talk with her.

Though she had only been on Earth with him for about a week, they had bonded quickly, and he had introduced her to his friends under her alias, Rhonda Sinclaire. He had never bothered to ask how she had come up with that name, but now he wondered if he'd ever get that chance. Theoretically, if the bounty hunter died, his life would be no different than it had been before he met her. Except that he would know who his mother was and what had happened to her instead of resenting the unknown woman who had abandoned him when he was born. It was strange to think that back then, Samus was only three years older than Hector was now.

As if running on autopilot, Hector led Adam straight to the elevator shaft that would take them down to the ruins. He was pleasantly surprised that there was a direct route into the Chozo's domain that did not involve sliding down a hill of mud or falling through any holes. The entrance to the ruins was similar to the one he had entered through the first time. First, they walked through a long hall filled with Chozo paintings and writings. It was made of the same yellow sandstone blocks, and it also opened up into a great antechamber.

The main difference in this room, however, was that there was not a mural of an anthropomorphic bird wearing Samus's armor. Instead, the mural of this room was much darker. It depicted the scene of a massacre. Dead human bodies lay in piles in a desolate wasteland. Only a small human child stood amongst them. Standing behind her to her left was a xenomorph, although it did not appear interested in attacking her. Behind her and to the right was jellyfish-like Metroid, and it also appeared uninterested in doing the child harm.

Adam inspected the mural closely, stepping forward to brush off the dust around the image of the blonde human girl. She stared back at him with sad, haunted eyes that held his gaze for a long while.

"Why do you think they have a painting of Newt?" Hector asked after a few minutes of Adam staring silently at the painting.

"What?" The General turned to look at the boy in confusion. "Newt?"

"Yeah… how did they know about her? Is this some kind of prophecy about what happened to her colony?"

The General looked curiously from the boy to the painting and back. "Well, I suppose I do see the resemblance. But honestly, I doubt the Chozo had any prophetic abilities. They wouldn't have screwed up so many things if they did… I believe that's a painting of your mother."

It was Hector's turn to look confused. "I didn't think she'd ever encountered a xenomorph before."

"I don't believe she has, but the Chozo obviously have. And they have some kind of connection to Samus."

Hector just nodded before turning to a blue octagonal door and pointing the Paralyzer at it. "This is the way in."

Adam nodded as the boy shot through the door and both of them made their way through. Hector walked quickly through the long corridors, pausing only when the General would stop to look at a particular piece of artwork.

"I've known of the Chozo for years," Adam whispered more to himself than to Hector, "but I've never been amongst their settlements. I only ever knew what Samus told me, and it wasn't until fairly recently she even told me they were her people, and she had their DNA."

As they continued on toward the room marked "Lab IX", they passed several doors they lacked the proper equipment to open. There were a couple of green doors, a few yellow ones, and even a purple one with a strange-looking shield. Hector could feel his hair stand up as they passed red doors, remembering the time he had tried to shoot one and the blast had ricocheted and nearly hit Newt.

It felt like forever before they reached the yellow door that led to the labs in which they had found the Metroids and xenomorphs. Adam could feel his heart rate speeding up as he realized how close they were to the site of the battle. He inwardly groaned as he watched Hector get down on his hands and knees to crawl through the hole in the wall that led inside. His back may have been doing better now than right after the crash, but his body still had its share of aches and pains. Reluctantly, the General got down on his hands and knees as well and followed Hector inside the lab.

When they entered the first room, Adam's eyes grew wide as he stood and observed the xenomorph specimens in their long tubes. They were in some kind of green liquid and appeared to be in a state of suspended animation. He wondered how long they had been that way given that the Chozo had supposedly gone extinct after the Pirates conquered Zebes eighteen years ago.

In the far corner of the room, he noticed what appeared to have once been a series of computers before they were met with an explosion of some kind. He looked at the boy, but Hector shrugged.

"They were intact the first time I came through here," he said. "They were all messed up like that when Newt and I came back through here though."

"Were you able to tell what was on them?" Adam asked, hoping for some kind of clue as to who had destroyed the computers and why. He thought he recognized the work of Samus's missiles, but he was not sure why she would destroy anything built by the Chozo given her loyalty to them.

"I'm not sure," Hector said as he began walking to the blue door on the far wall. "Everything was written in Chozo, but the pictures appeared to be comparing the different life stages of the xenomorphs to those of the Metroids."

Adam nodded silently. Perhaps it had been Samus's handiwork after all, and there had been some kind of blueprint on the computers about how to engineer Metroids. He knew she of all people would want every last bit of that information wiped from the universe.

"This is it," Hector said as they both stopped at the blue door. "Right through here is where the Metroids were and where I left Samus and Portia."

"Do you want me to go in first?" Adam asked, not knowing exactly what they would find inside.

Hector shook his head. "I saw that battle. I've braced myself." Then, he turned to the door, shot it open, and led the General inside.

Adam had seen some extremely gruesome battlefields in his life, and the carnage within the Metroid lab was nowhere near as bad as some of them. However, as he saw the shattered glass of the tubes, the Metroid entrails strewn about the floor, and mechanical pieces he could only imagine coming from Samus's powersuit being torn open, he felt like he had been punched in the gut, and it took him a moment to realize something very important was missing from the room.

"Where's Samus?" Hector asked in confusion, carefully stepping over the Metroid guts as he made his way over to what appeared to be a particularly large puddle of dried human blood. "This is where she was laying when Dr. Grey came in."

Adam looked around the room, quietly seething with anger. "So that confirms one thing," he said, his normally even tone taking an edge to it. "Portia lied about what happened. If Samus had been too weak to move when she died, and Portia didn't move the body, it would still be there."

"What's this?" Hector asked, squatting next to some strange looking object.

As the General approached, however, he recognized the hollowed out husk of the Facehugger. "That," he began, "is what emerges from a xenomorph egg and latches onto a host to impregnate them."

"Impregnate?" Hector turned to the General, looking like he was about to be sick. "So do you think Samus has been…"

"Possibly," Adam admitted quietly, running through the potential implications in his mind. "It would explain why Portia did not want us to come down here. If she planned to… impregnate Samus with a xenomorph… there's no telling what the results to that would be."

"What do you mean?" Hector asked, standing up and backing away from the dead Facehugger.

"Xenomorph larva gestate inside of a host, using that host's own cells to grow. The resulting creature's make-up is based on the species of the host. The xenomorphs we've seen have all been from humans, all of the colonists and the Colonial Marines. Samus isn't fully human though. There's no telling what kind of creature could come out of her."

"In other words," Hector said quietly, "there's a bioweapon growing inside of her. If she's even alive at all."

"Either inside of her," Adam replied grimly, "or inside of Portia. But I don't think it's Portia. I think our exotic species expert decided to breed a new one."

"But where is my mom?"

Adam looked around the room. It took him a minute to notice something on the far wall behind the largest of the broken tubes. It was a small pad with the orange glowing outline of what he imagined to be the palm of a Chozo. As he walked toward it, the boy followed, and when he reached it, he had the sinking feeling there would be only one way to open it.

Pressing his palm on the top of the outline, Adam waited a moment, but nothing happened. The General shook his head.

"Only a Chozo can open it," Adam said, looking at Hector. "Samus would most likely have been able to get through, but if that's where she escaped to, we're at the end of the line."

Hector watched quietly as the General's broad shoulders slumped in defeat. As Adam turned to walk away, the boy looked at the Chozo handprint pad. It would make sense that if Samus had somehow survived the attack, she would want to go somewhere safe to recover, somewhere only she could get to. It was a long-shot, and Hector knew it, but holding out just a small bit of hope, he placed his own hand on top of the palm print.

As the wall behind it began to tremble, Adam turned back to look at it. When he saw Hector standing with his palm on the Chozo print as the wall slid open before him, the General stared in shock. As he raised his eyebrows inquisitively at Hector, the boy could only shrug. Where the wall had once been, there was now the opening to a passageway.

In silent agreement, they both decided that was the next area they needed to search. As both of them stepped into the secret passage, the wall closed behind them, an orange glowing Chozo print materializing on the wall beside it.

This corridor was wider than the others, and it had a damp, earthy smell to it. Glowing orange lights illuminated the walls as they had in the other corridors, but there were no paintings on the walls here. Renewed in their hope that they might actually find Samus alive, Hector and Adam continued forward. However, they also knew that if the Facehugger had gotten her back in the lab, there was a chance they might also run into her "child" as well.

 


	19. Resurrection

Adam and Hector walked quietly down the dark corridor. There was a chill to the air, and it smelled damp and earthy. The General was thankful he still had his long blue coat, and the boy seemed comfortable enough in his windbreaker and jeans. He just hoped this was as cold as it would get.

Hector was tense as he walked beside Adam, and though he did not show any outward signs of it, the General knew he was scared. Still, the courage with which the boy pressed on in the search for Samus impressed him. It was becoming apparent he had inherited more than just recklessness from his mother. While he did not seem like the warrior type, the boy possessed an admirable determination. And given how he had managed to operate the Chozo palm scanner, Adam wondered if Samus's son had inherited some part of her alien make-up. Something that would not show up on a simple DNA test.

As they trudged down the corridor in silence, Adam's usually focused mind raced to dozens of places. He wondered if Samus had survived and escaped down here to hide while she recovered, but the farther they walked, the less likely he thought it was that she had managed to drag herself so far. He wondered how badly she was hurt, and if she had died, he wondered who would have stolen her body. The xenomorphs would have no need to drag her down to the nest if a Facehugger had gotten to her up in the lab, and by the look of things, that was exactly what had happened. Samus was strong, but even if they managed to find her alive, Adam doubted there was any way for her to survive having an alien burst from her chest. Knowing what was to come, she may have even opted to destroy herself and the bioweapon growing inside of her.

The odds that they would find Samus alive grew slimmer by the minute as the General ran through scenarios in his head. It was not until they reached the end of the long hall that Adam was able to shake himself back into reality. Like the hallways at the entrances to the ruins, the wide corridor also opened up into an antechamber, but this time it was much larger. There was no mural on the back wall of this room, only three doors that were each labeled with Chozo writing and some kind of symbol.

Curious, Adam walked over to the doors and regarded the symbols. The first one was easy enough to figure out; it looked like a very simple drawing of a Metroid. The second one was not so obvious. It appeared to be an egg of some sort, but he could not tell what sort of egg it was.

The third door's symbol gave him pause as he regarded it sadly. It was a circle with an "S"-shaped lightning bolt going through it, the same design as on the disk around Samus's neck and in which her powersuit was stored. He traced the symbol lightly with his fingers and sighed. To this day, he had never figured out exactly what the symbol meant except that it was associated with Samus somehow. He wondered if it had some more general meaning or if it referred to her specifically. Seeing it on the door now, he doubted it was the latter.

"Hector," he said, turning to the boy. "I want you to wait out here. I'm going through this door first, and I'm not sure what I'm going to find. In the event Samus somehow makes it into this room, one of us should stay here."

"What if one of those creatures comes though?" Hector asked, concern in his green eyes. "All I have is this stun gun? And what if you run into another one of those handprint things and can't open it?"

Adam smiled gently in an attempt to ease the tension. "If I run into one of those handprint things, I'll know exactly where to find you. As to the issue of your weapon, I propose a trade." Removing his sidearm from its holster, the General held it out to the boy. "It works much the same as the gun you have, but it's a lethal weapon, and you need to be much more careful with it. Can you handle that?"

Hector looked at the gun in Adam's outstretched hand for a few moments before he nodded and took it. Still staring at the General's sidearm, he removed Samus's gun from his holster and handed it to Adam. "Take care of that. My mom is really fond of that gun for some reason."

Adam chuckled quietly. "I know. She's had it for a very long time."

"Are you planning to search through these doors one at a time?"

The General nodded. "Although given how the doors are marked, I doubt she would willingly go into either of those two. I'm starting with this one. I'm not sure what the 'S' symbol means, but I know it means something to Samus, and I would venture this is where she would go if she could."

Hector shook his head. "I don't think she went anywhere voluntarily."

"It's the only thing we have to go on," the General replied grimly. "I'm not Samus. Finding people isn't my specialty. Putting the pieces together and tracking people down is her thing, but I think sometimes the most obvious path is the best one. And given the choice between a door with a Metroid, a door with an egg, and a door with Samus's symbol, I'm going with the third option first. Then I'll check the one with the Metroid because it is in Samus's nature to hunt them. She heals quickly, and when it comes to Metroids, she can be extremely single-minded."

Hector glanced over to the Metroid door and frowned. "That might be the place to start then."

Adam shook his head. "It might be, but I have a feeling about this door. I know Samus. She'll look for a way to heal herself and replenish her ammunition before going into a major battle." As he turned to the door, he stopped and looked back at the boy. "And I know her well enough to know she can be extremely reckless and resents people telling her what to do. And I think that's a concept you're familiar with as well, Hector. Don't screw this up and try to be a hero. Stay here. Wait for me or Samus. Don't go and explore the Metroid room as soon as my back is turned because you think that's where she is."

Hector glared at the General. "I'm not gonna do that."

"Good," Adam snapped back, his tone stern and authoritative. "Your mother would never say this, but if you had stayed on the ship like you were supposed to or even just stayed on Earth like you were supposed to, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. She came down here looking for you because you refused to listen to her. If it hadn't been for that, she would still be alive."

Hector looked like the General had just punched him in the stomach. The hurt and shock on his face expressed everything he found himself unable to say.

"I'm leaving now," Adam said coldly, turning back to the door. "Stay here."

The General shot the door and walked through. As it closed behind him, he allowed himself a moment to lament the way he had spoken to the boy. As harsh as he had been, he knew it was for the best. It was an issue he frequently had to confront as a commanding officer, being cruel in order to save the lives of those under his command. Hector may not have been a soldier, but as soon as the boy had raised the question about the second door, he knew where his mind was going. Whether he would admit it or not, the boy was planning to run off and search for Samus on his own.

Adam was familiar with that kind of bravado in young recruits who had yet to understand their own mortality, and he had seen it get plenty of them killed in the line of duty. He was not about to let that happen to his best friend's son. As difficult as they might have been to face, he had to realize the consequences of his actions. If he was going to carry a gun and try to act like a grown man, Adam reasoned, then the boy would have to deal with being spoken to like one. Better to hurt him and save his life than to spare his feelings and get him killed.

The General once again found himself in a hallway, but unlike the others, this one was short. Only a single blue door stood across from him. He approached it quietly, knowing that whatever this place was would be revealed to him as soon as he opened the door. Better that he was taking this trip alone. Danger, in some form or another, likely lurked behind that door.

Shooting the door, Adam walking through and found himself in another massive laboratory. However, there were no Metroids or xenomorphs in this lab. Computers lined the walls as they had in the other rooms, but they were of no interest to him. Only one thing caught his eye.

There, in the middle of the lab, was some sort of enormous, organic-looking structure. It was as though an alien tree grew from both the ground and the ceiling. At its center was a translucent green sphere filled with a similar fluid to what had been in the tubes of the xenomorphs in Lab IX. In the middle of the sphere was the form of a woman. Long tube-like structures ran from the alien tree and seamlessly through her skin like veins. It was a though the woman suspended in the fluid were the same organism as the structure itself.

But Adam knew she wasn't. As he approached the unconscious woman's vessel, he studied her naked form. Fresh wounds and old scars covered her body, but lifeless as it was, her face was clearly recognizable.

"Samus," he whispered, placing a palm to the green sphere in which she floated. It felt like a thick, skin-like membrane, and it was warm and soft to the touch.

As he stared at Samus's exposed body, his mind raced with questions. He could not tell if she were dead or alive, but it looked as though the vein-like tubes piercing her flesh were some kind of organic life support system. He could not be sure exactly what was going on, but it looked like whoever had brought her here was trying to keep her alive. Perhaps, someone was trying to heal her.

He did not have long to wonder about the identity of who had taken Samus's body before a cloaked figure stepped out from behind the structure. It approached the General slowly, and as Adam felt his hand tightening around his gun, the figure lowered the hood of its robe.

An anthropomorphic bird-like creature stared quietly at Adam through pupil-less black eyes. It was roughly about the same height as the General, and dull gray feathers covered its body beneath the robe. It had a large beak in the middle of its face, but its feathery hands looked almost like a primate's in structure.

"General Adam Malkovich, I presume?" the bird man asked in a deep, raspy voice. There was a faint note in it almost reminiscent of a parrot's squawk.

"Who are you?" the General demanded, already recognizing what the bird person was. "What have you done to Samus?"

"I'm sure you've figured out by now," the alien continued, "that I am a Chozo. My name is not recognizable in your language, but it translates roughly to Silver Wing. I am one of the patriarchs of our settlement here on Acheron."

"Acheron?" Adam glared at Silver Wing, noting that he had avoided his second question. "So there are still Chozo alive in the galaxy… Tell me though, what did you do to Samus? What's happening to her?"

The old Chozo sighed and looked up to where Samus's body was suspended in the green fluid. "Your… ' _Samus_ ,' as you call her, has died. I'm attempting to do something about that."

Adam's face softened as he looked from the Chozo back up to Samus. "So it's true then… she was killed by the Metroids?"

Silver Wing shook his head. "While the Metroids certainly weakened her, they were not the ones to do her in. The final cause of death was a stab wound in her back. She was murdered by a female human she had turned to for help."

"Portia," Adam said, gritting his teeth.

"That would be the name the human gave."

"How do you know this?" the General asked. "If you were watching, why didn't you stop her?"

"Don't be ridiculous," the Chozo snapped. "I wasn't there. It's a high security lab. I saw it on the camera footage after the fact."

"Fair enough. Did you also see what happened with the xenomorph larva? We found the husk of a Facehugger where Samus's body was supposed to be."

The Chozo nodded. "The xenomorph larva is currently incubating inside of Hatchling's… excuse me…  _Samus_ 's body." He spoke as though the bounty hunter's human name left a bad aftertaste. "The biosphere is acting as a form of life support for Hatchling's body so the larva can grow."

"What?" Adam's finger twitched toward the trigger of the gun as he took a step toward Silver Wing. "You're using her body as an incubator? To grow that abomination?! Haven't you fucked with her enough over the years trying to build your bioweapons? It wasn't enough that you mutilated and enslaved her as a child and forced her to dedicate her life to cleaning up your messes? Now, even in death, you're using her corpse to build another weapon?"

The Chozo's beady eyes narrowed as he stared silently at the General for a long moment. "Is that what you chose to believe we did? So be it. What's passed has passed. Hatchling was a prototype bioweapon. She far exceeded our expectations. We have no desire to lose her now. You may have noticed, if you bothered to pay attention, that Hatchling possesses unique traits not found in most naturally grown organisms. Most notably, like Metroid, she can absorb the energy of other organisms and use it to heal herself."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Simple," the bird-like creature huffed in frustration. "Hatchling was designed to mutate and adapt to her environment. It's why so many alien technologies are compatible with her exoskeleton. As the xenomorph larva grows within her, her body will eventually drain its life-force and reabsorb it. So long as the life support systems of this biosphere keep her body 'alive', it should be able to do that and use the larva's energy to revive itself. Even now, Hatchling is beginning to show signs of healing."

Adam looked back up at Samus. "So… you're sacrificing the creature inside of her to save Samus?"

The Chozo nodded. "We would love to possess it, don't get me wrong. But Hatchling has served us well for many years, and the least we can do is save her life now. She is the greatest weapon we have ever built, and it would be a shame to lose everything we invested in her. Although, we may lose that anyway…"

"What do you mean?" Adam looked over Samus's naked body, and for the first time he realized the powersuit and its heavy chain were missing from her neck. "The powersuit… she told me it becomes useless in the event of her death. So no one could steal or copy it."

Once again, the Chozo nodded. He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the beat-up looking disk. Its chain looked as though it had been snapped in half clean through one of the links. "Take it, General. Present it to her when she has recovered. You say we enslaved her after we mutilated her? Then give her the choice about whether or not she wants to resume her role as the galaxy's protector, assuming the suit can become functional again. I'll tell you right now, she'll do it. We chose her for a reason."

Adam bit back a comment about how they had brainwashed her as a child, deciding it was better to be polite at least until Samus was revived and strong enough that she no longer required the Chozo's aid. It was hard for him to listen to the detached manner in which the Chozo spoke of her when he had heard her so often speak affectionately of them as her family. As far as he was concerned, they may have rescued her from her destroyed colony, but they had also abused her in the worst of ways. There was no other way he could conceptualize taking a human toddler and turning her into a tool of war under the guise of love.

He walked over to the Chozo and took the powersuit, placing it in a zipper pouch on his belt for safekeeping.

"Thank you," he said, his voice regaining its calm, even tone, "for saving her life. There are a lot of people who appreciate it."

The Chozo just nodded. "Tell me, General Malkovich, why do you think what we did was so wrong? True, we sacrificed parts of Hatchling to build a weapon. But why not sacrifice one human life to save billions? Of so many species? Has she not been the galactic savior we built her to be? We gave a gift to the universe in giving them our Hatchling."

Adam did not have a chance to respond before the vein-like tubes in the biosphere began to react. Slowly, they began to rise as the tree-like structure growing from the ceiling began to move away, revealing an opening in the sphere's membrane. As the tubes rose, they carried Samus with them, lifting her body out of the sphere and lowering her gently onto the ground. The tubes then withdrew from her flesh, leaving no sign that they had been there at all was they disappeared back into the tree-like structures surrounding the sphere.

Adam rushed to Samus as soon as she was on the ground. She lay awkwardly on her side, and her naked body was wet and cold to the touch. However, the General felt a weight disappear from his chest when he realized she was breathing. Gently, he knelt beside her unconscious form and ran his fingers down her face. She was cold, but she was unmistakably alive. Removing his long, blue General's coat, he covered her body with it in an attempt to keep her covered and warm. While Samus had never possessed a concept of modesty when it came to her body, he doubted she would appreciate waking up and feeling so exposed.

He sat quietly by her side and ran his fingers through her hair for a while as the Chozo watched them until at last Samus opened her eyes. The phazon scarring on the side of her face was darker than ever, and as her normally grey-blue eyes opened, Adam thought he could see hints of green in them. For a long time, she just gazed up at him without any idea where she was or what was happening. Slowly, she grew more aware of his presence and began to recall her fight with the Metroids, Portia's betrayal, and ultimately the Facehugger's attack.

"Adam?" she said weakly as she stared up at the General.

"It's all right, Lady," he whispered, running a hand through her hair. "You're all right now. You're safe."

She looked around and tried to lift herself up but failed. "My chest hurts."

Adam nodded, adjusting his coat to better cover her. "That makes sense given the circumstances."

"You need to kill me." She looked up at him very seriously, and he was certain there were hints of green in her eyes. "One of those aliens got me. There's one in me right now, and I don't know when it's going to come out. You have to destroy it."

"Relax, Lady," he said gently. "It's already taken care of. Your body is different. It's breaking down the alien and reabsorbing it as we speak."

Samus's eyes grew wide as she tried once more to lift herself up and managed to prop up her front half on her elbows and forearms. "How do you know that?"

"I told him, Hatchling," Silver Wing's voice said as the Chozo walked closer to where she lay.

"Silver?" Samus asked, looking surprised. "You're alive? How can this be? Are there more Chozo?"

Adam was surprised to hear Samus call the Chozo by name, but he felt foolish when he realized he had never even considered the two would know each other personally. It was strange to hear the alien answer her in a language that sounded like bird sounds and even stranger to hear Samus reply in the same language.

They conversed like that for a while, leaving the General completely out of the loop. At one point, he saw Samus look at herself under her coat and touch her neck in distress as she realized the powersuit was missing. She turned to Adam, her eyes wide.

"I was dead? And you came to rescue me?"

Adam smiled. "You were, and I did. But I suppose I really wasn't needed after all."

Samus shook her head and reached for Adam's hand. He gave it to her and she held on tightly. "No, it's good you came. Thank you."

He could not imagine what she was feeling, but from the way she was holding onto his hand, he could tell her strength was at least returning. Still, she seemed hurt, confused, and possibly even frightened as she laid there still trying to process what had happened to her. Not sure what else to do, he just quietly held her hand as she closed her eyes and tried to understand everything that was happening.

"Hey," she called over to the Chozo in English so Adam could hear. "My body is destroying the alien?"

"That is correct, Hatchling," he replied. "I don't know what other effects it will have on you, but you should keep your eyes open for anything different developing… Changes may take time to reveal themselves."

Samus nodded. "My body would attack anything growing within it?"

Silver regarded her quietly for a moment before nodding. "Anything not of Chozo origin."

Samus just nodded again, and Adam knew she was holding back the question she was dying to ask. "Thank you for saving me," she just said quietly as she tried to sit up. Adam helped her, and though it was awkward, they were finally able to get her into an upright position. Gently, the General helped her put on his long coat and did all of the buttons. It was not much in terms of clothing, but it covered everything important. "We need to be going now though."

"Very well," Silver said as he stared at Samus, knowing there was something she was withholding from him. "If you are able to, you may leave."

The Chozo's icy stare was disconcerting, and although Adam was surprised Samus did not want to stay longer to talk to her long-lost relative, he could tell she was every bit as uncomfortable as he was. The General lost no time in helping the mercenary to her feet. Though she was wobbly and clearly unstable, she was able to get up. He was not sure she should be trying to walk given what she had just been through, and his suspicions were confirmed when fell forward. Fortunately, he was able to catch arm and help her steady herself.

"Easy, Lady," he whispered. "You've been dead all evening. Your strength isn't anywhere close to back."

Allowing herself to lean on him, she looked him in the eyes and whispered very quietly, "We need to get out of here."

With a nod, Adam slowly helped her walk to the door, shooting it open for both of them to get through. It felt strange to him to realize he had a weapon and she did not. He realized it was the first time in the seventeen years he had known her that he had seen Samus unarmed, and it felt wrong.

When they were alone together in the hallway, she stopped and regarded Adam very seriously. "They can't know about Hector. Please tell me you didn't mention him."

"I didn't."

Samus closed her eyes and nodded. Adam could swear the phazon scars on her face had gotten even darker than they were when she woke up, but instead of a faded dark blue, they were now black and much more noticeable. Her eyes were becoming noticeably greener as well.

"My body will reject anything not Chozo in origin," she whispered. "That means that Hector is somehow—"

"Part Chozo," Adam finished for her. "I know. He was able to open a door protected by a Chozo palm scanner earlier."

"He was supposed to be human," she whispered. "They told me he was human… one hundred percent human. It's not supposed to be like this. They can't find out about him. They can't find out there's another potential weapon like me out there. I won't have that life for him."

"Then we'll protect him," Adam said softly, helping to steady Samus whose legs still threatened to give out beneath her. He pulled her into an embrace, and she rested, leaning against his chest for a moment. "We'll treat them like we would any other enemy for now, and we won't let harm come to the boy. We'll go back to your ship now though so you can rest and recover."

Samus nodded, too exhausted to discuss the matter any further. After he gave her a minute to catch her breath, Adam led Samus out of the short hallway and back into the atrium in which he had left Hector.

At the sight of the General and his mother walking through the door, the boy looked up in surprise. His eyes were red and puffy as though he had been crying but he gave no other indication of it as he smiled and ran up to them.

"Samus!" he called rushing up to her and throwing his arms around her.

As weak as she still was, Samus still managed to let go of Adam for a moment and hold her son, not letting him see that she was struggling just to stay on her feet. With a warm hug, she kissed his sandy blonde hair and pulled him close. She didn't say anything, but her smile told Adam everything he needed to know. When at last the boy pulled away from her, she reached out for the General, and they joined arms once more.

"We have to get out of here," Samus said to Hector. "Do you know the way out?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I've still got the watch you gave me." Turning to Adam, he looked much more serious as he said, "I stayed here the whole time, Sir. I waited for you. I didn't see anyone else come through."

Adam just nodded. "Good."

Getting back to the surface was a slow and painstaking trip. Although she did her best not to show it, Samus was still in no condition to be walking. She had to lean heavily on Adam, and he made her stop frequently to rest even when she insisted she was fine to keep going. The whole process took much longer than getting into the ruins had, but they eventually reached the surface without incident. When they were finally above ground, Samus took her watch back from Hector and used it to summon her ship, which arrived within minutes.

"I didn't know it could do that," the boy said as he stared in awe at the ship as it landed above the mines.

Samus just shrugged. "It does a lot of things people don't realize." Without Adam's help, she managed to walk over to the ship's hull and swipe across part of it with an open palm. As she did so, a series of characters appeared in glowing green lights, and when she pressed them in a particular order, a glowing platform of hard light materialized beside her. "All aboard," she said, motioning to the platform.

Hector climbed on the platform, and Adam assisted the bounty hunter in stepping onto it. Once they were all situated comfortably, the platform began to rise until they were on top of the ship. When the three of them finally got down the ship's hatch, they found themselves in Samus's medical bay, and all of them were able to breathe a sigh of relief that they were finally safe.

"Hector," Samus said to her son as she walked over to her exam table, "why don't you head inside and check on Archer. He's probably been nervous with us being away so long."

The boy just nodded as he went into the cabin, leaving Samus and Adam alone in the medical bay.

"I need you to check on something," Samus said, unbuttoning the coat. "Help me up here."

Not missing a beat, Adam picked up the bounty hunter and laid her down on her back on the exam table. He knew what she needed help with, and as she opened the coat to reveal the full front of her body, he grabbed the equipment and turned on a nearby screen.

Coating a handheld scanner with some gel, he took it and pressed it to Samus's exposed abdomen. The machine was similar to an ultrasound, but it created a much more detailed image of Samus's insides. She held her breath as the General ran the scanner along her firm, flat abdomen and toward her chest, watching the screen closely for any abnormalities.

"Nothing there," he said as he got up to her chest and watched her heart beating on the screen. "Everything looks clear. I don't see any sign of the alien."

Samus breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes as she leaned heavily back against the table. "It's over," she whispered. "It's really over."

Adam looked her over as she saw tears escaping from her eyes and rolling silently down the sides of her face. The black lines of the phazon scars were bolder than they had been before, and they were clearly visible down the side of her neck and over her heart. They had been there before, of course, but now they were particularly pronounced. Samus would not be able to simply hide them with make-up like she used to, but if that was the worst effect of her alien encounter, he decided it was not so bad.

"I just want to take a blood sample and run a few more tests, Lady," he said, putting on gloves and opening a sterile needle. She just nodded and held out her arm as she rested against the table. He knew she was exhausted so he moved quickly. The sooner he could get her into her bed, the sooner she would be able to enter her deep healing sleep and finish recovering from her brush with death.

As he pierced her flesh with the needle, however, he found himself jerking his hand back in sudden pain. Steam rose from the needle as it clattered to the floor, and when he looked at his gloves, he realized that their tips had been dissolved clean off. As he looked to Samus, she stared at him wide-eyed in horror.

"Lady," he said softly, trying to calm her before she did anything rash, but with preternatural speed, the bounty hunter grabbed a scalpel from a nearby drawer.

Within seconds, she sliced a cut into her left palm, and as she squeezed it closed, she watched the blood drip onto the floor. As each of the droplets landed, steam rose up as small holes burned themselves into the floor of the ship. Samus stared in disgust as her now acidic blood ate through the top layer of the floor.

 


	20. Jagged Little Pill

Samus stared in horror as the blood dripping from her hand began burning holes in the floor of her ship. Although potent, its acidity was not at the same levels as the blood of a full-fledged xenomorph, so only the top layer of the ship's flooring dissolved. Still, all the bounty hunter could do was stare in shock as she realized just how deeply the alien within her had affected her. Not only had her body broken down and absorbed it, but it had taken on some of its traits.

"A-adam…" she stammered as she felt the General take her hand, apply some kind of powder to it, and begin wrapping the wound where she had sliced her palm open with the scalpel.

"Hold on, Lady," he said softly as he wrapped the bandages around her hand and wrist and tied them off. "Let me take care of this."

She stared up at him and then looked over to her hand as he held it and applied pressure to the wound. "S-stop," she managed to sputter as she stared at her hand. "It'll burn you."

"It's all right, Lady," Adam said in his same calming voice. "That powder I applied is an alkaline substance. It's used all the time in hospitals to protect doctors when they treat species with naturally acidic blood."

Samus just stared as he held her hand, and her breathing grew heavy and quick. "What am I?" Her eyes were wide with disgust as she looked herself over, paying close attention to the now-black, vein-like scars that ran down over her chest. "What am I turning into?"

"You're still Samus," Adam replied quietly but firmly. "Parts of you are changing, but that doesn't mean you're anyone different. We'll work through this. We'll figure out what's changing, and we'll come up with a plan to deal with it."

Samus closed her eyes and her face twisted as she fought to hold back tears. Unfortunately, as exhausted as she was, she could not hold them in any longer. With hushed sobs, the bounty hunter began to cry, softly whimpering so her son would not be able to hear her in the next room. She lay back heavily on the exam table, shielding her face with her other arm as Adam still held her bandaged hand.

"I'm s-sorry… I'm so sorry, Adam…"

He shook his head as he gently ran his free hand through his friend's hair. It was still wet with sweat and whatever the liquid was that the Chozo had put her in to incubate the xenomorph larva within her.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Lady. You came here to rescue us. You saved Hector and Newt. You protected Lieutenant Ripley and Private Vasquez. You have nothing to apologize for."

She looked up at him, her eyes frighteningly blank as tears still spilled from them. "I'm an abomination."

"Samus," Adam whispered, still holding her hand, "this doesn't make you an abomination. A lot of species have blood with some level of acidity or corrosive properties. There are ways to treat it. The Army has so many resources for things like this, and I can help you get access to whatever you need."

She shook her head, her eyes still blank and her face expressionless. "I was always an abomination. I am… I've always been a weapon. I've always just been… this whole time. I was their weapon."

"Lady, you're not—"

"I WAS JUST THEIR GODDAMN WEAPON!" she screamed, throwing her head back. Her breathing was ragged and the tears were falling uncontrollably now. Still she kept her eyes closed as she tried once more to relax on the exam table. "This whole time… They only wanted me because I was so easy to control."

"Samus…"

She gasped a few times as the sobs wracked her body. "Because I weak and docile and submissive and they knew they could control me… and they made me their weapon… They could have sent me to Earth or another human planet, but they didn't…"

"Lady," Adam said, taking a firmer grip on her hand. "You're not weak, and you are neither docile nor submissive. Trust me on that one. You were those things when they found you, I'm sure, but you were also three years old. You were a toddler. That's what toddlers do, especially after they lose their parents. They look for love and security. That's natural. You can't blame yourself for that."

"All these years," she whispered, and her eyes looked suddenly like she could not see anything around her. Adam knew the look well. He had seen it many times in Samus as well as in other soldiers. "I dedicated my life to them… everything. I thought they loved me. I thought they were my family…"

"Lady." He held her hand tighter. "Look at me. Look at me, Samus."

The hunter turned to stare at him, but her eyes were wild as the green and the blue mixed together. Her breathing was more rapid now, and her body was tensing as though ready to spring.

"Samus," Adam called to her, once again using his authoritative tone. "Samus Aran, look at me. You need to—"

She screamed as she backhanded him suddenly across the face. The General stumbled and nearly fell over but managed to catch himself. He was lucky she did not have her strength back or else the attack would have seriously hurt him.

"Samus—"

"Get away from me!" she screamed as she tried to escape, only managing to fall off of the opposite side of the exam table. With a tremendous effort, she managed to drag herself away and into a corner where she huddled into a ball, trembling and keeping her hands over her face. "Please no more… please… no more…"

She seemed downright terrified as she lay shaking on the ground, and Adam suddenly understood what was going on. He did not know exactly where her mind was, but he knew it wasn't in the present. When she had struck him across the face, she thought she had been striking at someone else. The amount of physical and emotional stress she had endured in the past seventy-two hours had finally caught up to her, and something had thrown her into a full-fledged flashback.

"Samus," Adam whispered softly as he knelt beside her. It suddenly occurred to him that with the exception of the time during which she had been dead, the bounty hunter had not rested at all in over three days. "Samus, it's all right."

He gently touched her back, worried she might turn and attack him, but she only whimpered as she stayed rigidly curled up in her corner.

"Please… no more…" she choked between quiet sobs. "No more tests…"

"It's ok, Lady," he reassured her, rubbing her back and trying to ground her in reality. He was not sure what she was talking about but suspected she was not referring to the blood test he had attempted to give her. "There are no more tests. You're okay. You're safe now. We're on your ship, and everything is okay."

Slowly she turned to look up at him, and it took her a moment to recognize him. "Adam?"

"I'm right here, Lady." He smiled and sat down as she inched closer and rested her head in his lap. She cried softly as she nestled her face into his leg.

"Is anyone else here?"

"Hector is in the other room," he replied, gently stroking her hair. "I believe Archer is with him too."

"What are they doing on Zebes?"

Adam paused for a moment as he looked down at Samus. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was quickly falling asleep. It would not do for her to fall asleep on the floor of her medical bay though, and he doubted he would be able to lift her once she was out cold. His back still was not in the best of shape, and the mercenary was nearly two hundred pounds.

On the other hand, he did not want to disturb her and risk sending her back into a panic. If she thought they were on Zebes, there was no telling what time period her mind had flashed to. While she had been raised there amongst the Chozo and complete two major missions there, she had blown up the planet over six months ago, well before she had met her son.

He did not have to worry about disturbing her, however, because after a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. This time, she appeared more alert and aware of where she was.

"Did I do that to your face?" she asked, staring up at Adam as she attempted to sit up.

"You did," he replied, slowly standing so as to help her up. He realized there must have been a bruise starting to form where she had hit him.

"I'm sorry…" She looked frustrated as she got to feet, swaying like a drunken woman. "I got scared, I think… it just reminded me of something…"

"I could tell." He looked her over with concern, holding her arm to help steady her. "I think you may be under a bit too much stress right now."

Samus snorted as she laughed. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one."

It was a relief to the General to hear his friend laughing, especially after the way she had been crying only moments ago. There were no words to express how happy it made him to see her not only alive, but now safe and more comfortable on her ship. Of course, he also knew she was still in bad shape and desperately in need of rest and nourishment. She may have been able to get to her feet easily enough, but he knew she barely had the strength to stand. And now if she was having flashbacks, then that was a clear indication that she had been pushed to her mental and emotional limits.

Adam knew Samus. He knew her better than anyone did. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her about their encounter with Silver Wing and about the Chozo more generally, but now was not the time. He had known for years that she suffered from a great deal of post traumatic stress issues, mostly stemming from the war and the way Ridley and the Space Pirates had wreaked havoc upon her early life. It was the first time he wondered if the experiments the Chozo performed on her had also contributed to that.

The bounty hunter sighed and looked tiredly over to Adam. "I should get into the cockpit and call Chairman Keaton."

"No," the General replied sternly. "I will go into the cockpit and call Keaton. You need to get into bed and rest. Then you need to eat something. It's been days since you've eaten or slept, Samus."

She shook her head. "There's no time for that. Ripley and the others are still on this planet. I have to go back for them."

"Are you out of your mind?" Adam's voice took on its authoritative tone once more as he looked over the half-naked mercenary, clad only in his General's coat. "You can't go out there. You may not be dead, but you're still wounded and extremely weak… You'll be killed in an instant if one of those things sees you, especially without the powersuit."

Samus touched her throat subconsciously as though she had forgotten that the suit, in its compact container, was missing. She did not say anything for a minute as she realized just how impossible it would actually be for her to save anyone in her condition. Looking down at her exposed body, she realized it was still covered in half-healed injuries, and she hastily redid the buttons on the coat to cover herself. Modesty was not a concept she had ever possessed, but as she looked down at her bare feet and felt where the powersuit was missing from her neck, she realized she had never felt more naked in her adult life. The suit had truly become a part of her body over the years, and between losing it and feeling the xenomorph blood chiseling away at the shreds of humanity she had still possessed, she felt like she could break down and cry again.

"Perhaps," she said, defeat in her tone, "I should go to bed… I'm really not any good like this…"

Adam nodded. "Do you want the chain with your suit on it back?"

Samus shook her head. "I really don't want anything right now that reminds me about… what happened in the ruins. Take it to the cockpit and place it by one of the energy ports. If it reacts, maybe it can be recharged and repaired. Otherwise, I have plenty of other weapons. I'll just make do if I have to."

The General just nodded. They would figure out what to do about the powersuit when the time was right, but right now his priority was taking care of Samus. "Do you need help getting to your room?"

"I'm ok. Feeling better than I was when I… woke up? Would that be the right term for it?"

"All right." He was skeptical, but he also knew if she insisted she didn't need his help, she would just waste energy fending him off rather than giving in and letting him help her. "I'll get your meds from the cockpit."

"Heh." She smiled bitterly as she stared down at the empty exam table and where her blood had burned through the floor. "I'm even less human than I was yesterday. Do you they'll even affect me the same?"

"That I don't know," he said as they walked toward the door to her cabin. "But I think you are having a… flare up of sorts. And if nothing else, they could help you sleep soundly." He wondered if she had even bothered taking any of her medication during this mission, but he knew better than to ask.

Samus looked like she wanted to argue but eventually relented. "Fine. Thank you." She turned and hit the holoscreen to open the hatch to the ship's living area. As the bounty hunter stepped into what was essentially a tiny living room/kitchen, her son looked up at her from the couch.

Her entrance also attracted the attention of the ship's other occupant, the large, shaggy, brown dog that sauntered toward her.

"Hello, Reject," Samus said, affectionately patting the wolfish dog on his head and scratching his ears. He was not one to openly display affection, but he always made sure to greet his master upon her return.

"I thought we had agreed to stop calling him that," Adam said as he shot her a glare. Then he turned to the dog. "Archer, you watch out for that one. Make sure she doesn't do something crazy like run off while my back is turned."

"Funny," Samus said with a glance over to her son. "If I'd have known he could stop people from running off, I would have given him that command last time I left the ship." Hector sank lower into the couch and pretended like he was watching the show on the holoscreen.

"Isn't it nice," Adam teased with a grin at the bounty hunter's expense, "to have someone who constantly disobeys you and challenges your authority?"

She rolled her eyes as she walked over to her bedroom door. "Very funny, Adam." Without looking back, she opened the hatch and disappeared into her bedroom, Archer following close behind.

The General smiled to himself, looked over to the boy, shook his head, and walked through another hatch into the cockpit. It did not take him long to find the bottles with Samus's medications. He grabbed them and brought them over to her room, stopping only to pour her a glass of water.

He did not bother to knock before entering her room, and as he entered, he saw she had cast off his coat and put on a faded tee shirt and pair of flannel pajama bottoms. She and Archer stared at him with the same blank expressions.

Samus's bedroom was not a bedroom so much as it was a room that just happened to have a bed in it. Compact and efficient like everything else on the ship, her room was little more than a glorified gun closet. All around them, different models of high-powered rifles and handguns hung on the walls. There were other weapons more suited for melee fighting and even a few explosives and other tools of her trade. Adam has always thought her arsenal was a bit overkill given that she possessed the powersuit, but now he was very thankful to see it all around them in the dark little room. There were enough guns to give every survivor on LV-426 at least five and still have some left over.

"I brought your medicine," Adam said, approaching Samus and handing her the pill bottles. She set one down on her simple chrome nightstand and opened the other bottle. She made a face of disgust before dry-swallowing two of the pills and chasing them down with the glass of water.

"I know it's necessary," she said, handing him back the empty glass. "A lot of people depend on me, so I know its necessary… still, I really hate needing those fucking things."

"I know," Adam said quietly as she turned down the plain grey military-issued covers from her Spartan little bed.

With a sigh, she got on the bed and crawled under the blankets. Archer did not waste a second before he also jumped onto the bed, placing himself protectively between Samus and the door. The bounty hunter reached out and wrapped one arm around the giant dog.

"At least he still recognizes me," she murmured as she snuggled closer to her dog. "There's probably hardly anything human left of me at this point."

"Stop that," Adam admonished her, but his tone was not harsh as he watched Samus close her eyes. It had taken an act of Congress to get her to go to bed, but now that she was there, he could tell she was fading out fast. "Goodnight, Lady."

He left quietly, closing the door behind him. He was grateful that she at least had Archer to comfort her. For Samus, having an anxiety attack while she was awake was usually a good indicator she would end up waking up in a panic from horrific nightmares. Having the dog around at least gave her something to keep her grounded, and despite his origins as a feral dog on death row, the wolf-like creature had actually been very helpful in calming her in such circumstances. To Adam, that almost made up for how much the massive animal shed.

It gave him peace of mind to know Samus was finally resting. Once she let herself sleep, her body could heal at an unbelievable rate. He just worried about what would happen when she woke up. Her old phazon scars were still getting darker, and there was still more green appearing in her eyes. Though he had not said anything, he had noticed her fingernails were starting to turn an eerie shade of black layered with a pearlescent green.

There would be more changes to come. That was one thing about which he was certain. Other than that, he did not know what the near future held for the bounty hunter. He only hoped that she would be of sounder mind when she awoke. Until then, he would do what he could to try to mitigate the damages of this expedition.

Glancing at the couch, he noticed Hector had also fallen asleep, but that was not surprising. The boy had been through a lot in one day. Adam, on the other hand, has spent most of his time on LV-426 either sleeping or playing chess with an android. It was time for him to get to work, and the first thing he planned to do was call the Chairman and let him know he was alive.

 


	21. Turning Tables

Ripley watched as Portia paced back and forth, still awaiting the return of the boy and the General. She wondered how much the doctor knew they had figured out was a lie, and she wondered if she was planning any kind of response.

It had been several hours since General Malkovich had taken the bounty hunter's son out to look for her. As far as Portia knew, they were only going on a gun run and should have been back a long time ago. One thing Ripley was thankful for, however, was how helpful Bishop's presence had been while they waited on the others to return. Though the android had allegedly been programmed such that he could never harm a human, Portia didn't know that, and Ripley thought the addition of Bishop's presence would be a better deterrent than hers alone if the rogue doctor decided to attack.

The flight officer wondered if the bounty hunter were actually dead. It was certainly not outside of the realm of possibility, but it still seemed like an odd thought. Yes, she had been ravaged by xenomorphs the last time Ripley saw her, but it seemed odd that someone could survive something like that and then still be killed by something else. Of course, it made sense; the hunter was human… sort of. And humans could die. Still, Samus Aran, clad in her golden armor, had a sort of fantastic aura about her, as though she had materialized directly out of a legend, and it felt odd to think of her as mortal.

"They've been gone a long time." The doctor's voice suddenly broke the silence. She glanced over to the hatch and then to where Newt slept, curled in a pile of blankets in the far corner.

"It's been a minute," Ripley agreed. "They might have hauled up somewhere until daybreak."

"Then why not just stay down here in the first place?"

Ripley shrugged dismissively. "Maybe they thought they could do it quick but ran into trouble and are waiting it out. It's not inconceivable that they could have encountered an alien or two and survived. We've all done it at some point."

"Most didn't survive though." The doctor stared her down as though she wanted to say something more but could not decide whether or not to say it.

"Well I, for one, am not willing to write them off as dead just yet." Ripley returned the hostile glare. "Malkovich didn't get to the rank of General for nothing, and you know that kid's an expert marksman."

Portia looked like she wanted to say something as she stared at Ripley, but she eventually relented and turned away. The flight officer would have liked to know what the other woman was thinking, but she didn't press her. She did, however, wonder if Portia knew of some way off of this moon, some way she had not mentioned before. Otherwise, why would she be itching to badly to get out of the bunker?

Ripley glanced over to where Newt lay asleep. The child looked so small nestled in the emergency blankets. She was the only one who had any idea what had actually happened to Samus Aran before Portia arrived, but as long as the doctor was around, she could not ask her anything. Instead, Ripley and Bishop just exchanged glances that let them know they were on the same page as one another. They would wait a while longer for the boy and the General, but after that, they would need to figure out a plan B. And they would have to do something about the Portia problem.

* * *

Adam sighed as he entered the cockpit and sat down in Samus's pilot chair. This mission had been nothing but a nightmare from the start, and he had no idea if it was going to turn the corner anytime soon. His only consolation was that Samus was alive, and even if she was severely wounded, at least she and her son were safe. At least, he assumed she was safe. With the addition of the xenomorph genes to her already unstable genetic make-up, there was no telling what could happen or how she would wake up. It reminded him far too much of the time when she had worked with Admiral Dane's fleet during the Phazon Crisis. He had watched helplessly as the Marines' scientists had sent him reports of her rapidly deteriorating condition due to phazon corruption, a condition they had inadvertently aggravated by fitting her suit with a P.E.D.

But she had survived that, and all she had to show for that brush with death were the blue scars on her face, scars that had now turned black. It seemed she had not been so lucky this time around. There was no telling what complications could arise from her acidic blood and loss of the powersuit.

Remembering he was still in possession of the broken chain with the disk that contained the suit, he placed it in one of the energy port compartments in the console and closed the little door. The port roared to life instantaneously, lighting up the broken suit with an orange glow.

Adam had always thought it was strange that a metal case the size of his palm could house her whole suit, but he also thought it strange how a six-foot-three woman in a suit of armor could collapse her whole body into a one meter sphere. She had explained it had something to do with Chozo technology and being able to instantly convert matter into energy and back, but she lacked a full understanding of it herself, so she could never explain it to him.

None of that mattered, though, if her death had left the suit permanently disabled. He could not begin to imagine how she was feeling without it around her neck given it had been there for almost her entire life. Although, if he recalled correctly, something had happened to it on her first mission to Zebes, and she had been without armor for a brief period.

Now as he sat in her chair and stared out the ship's forward windshield, he contemplated his next move. Ripley and the others were still mostly likely in the bunker, and Samus would want to rush down there and save them as soon as she was able, particularly given Portia's presence. He didn't know how the mercenary would react to Portia if she ever saw her again, but he knew the outcome would be lethal. Samus was generally non-aggressive with humans, but when she did engage them, it was over quickly and efficiently.

He wondered how long she would sleep this time. As badly hurt and malnourished as she was, he figured she would be out for quite some time, especially with her body adapting to the recent changes. Before coming into the cockpit, he had made her a meal and brought it in to her on a warming platter. He had set it on her nightstand so that she could open it and eat it as soon as she woke up because he knew once she was up and about, it would take too much effort to convince her to stop and eat something.

To say that Samus was not a big fan of stopping to eat was an understatement. Adam had been downright disturbed when he had looked through her pantry and refrigerator trying to find something to turn into a hot meal. Aside from a few stacks of MRE's and a couple of half-full bottles of whiskey, there was almost nothing resembling food on her ship. It was only when he woke up Hector to ask what his mother had been feeding him that he learned she had bought a few things to feed her kid while she was with her. Apparently, he had introduced his mother to her first "grilled cheese" about a week ago.

In the end, despite wanting to give her a real meal, Adam had ended up making a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of canned beef and vegetable soup. It was not much, but at least it was a hot meal, probably the first she had had since leaving Earth. The warming platter could keep it hot and fresh indefinitely so whenever she woke up, it would still be as though he had just prepared it.

With Samus taken care of, Adam was free to turn his attention to other matters. Hitting a few buttons on the console brought up the holoscreen in front of him as the ship's communication system dialed Chairman Keaton's direct number. It took a long time for him to respond, but when the image of the little green alien appeared onscreen, Adam could tell he was alone in his office.

"Good evening, Chairman," the General said, sitting up in Samus's chair.

"Malkovich?" The alien's naturally grumpy-looking face looked irritated and surprised. "So you're not dead then?"

"Affirmative, Sir. One hundred percent not-dead."

Keaton snorted. "Where's Aran? That's her ship, is it not?"

Adam nodded. "Yes, it is. Samus isn't available at the moment though. She's asleep."

"So wake her up then."

The General chuckled as he leaned back in the pilot's chair. "No, not after what I went through to put her to bed. You'll be happy to hear that she's been extremely diligent in the mission you assigned her. She rescued me as well as several others."

Adam went on to recount their misadventures on LV-426, starting with the explosion onboard his ship and all the way through to the discovery of the secret Metroid lab down in the Chozo ruins. He told Keaton about their encounter with Silver Wing, but he left out the fact that Samus had been murdered and was now rapidly becoming a human-xenomorph hybrid. Instead, he simply explained that she had been injured and was recovering in the other room.

"So," the Chairman asked once Adam was finished with his story, "the survivors are you, Aran, her spawn, Lieutenant Ripley, the android Bishop, Dr. Grey, some little girl and maybe Private Vasquez?"

"We don't know the status of Private Vasquez, but she's been missing for a considerable period of time now." He paused and regarded the Chairman very seriously. "Sir, what do you know about Dr. Portia Grey?"

Keaton furrowed his brow. "I can't keep track of every low level army scientist. The name doesn't ring any bells. I know there was an alien species expert on that expedition with you. Might that be her?"

"Yes, Sir," Adam replied.

"Ah… well. I don't know much about her." The green alien seemed to think of something and looked curiously at Adam. "But if I recall correctly, the alien species expert assigned to that unit was one of the scientists who survived the Space Pirates' attack on the Ceres Station six months ago."

That raised a red flag for Adam as he sat up straighter. The Ceres Station had been where Samus brought the last Metroid after her expedition to exterminate the species on SR-388. After she had left it in their custody, Ridley, the now-deceased leader of the Pirates, had raided the station and snatched it away. He had defeated Samus when she tried to protect the station and save the Metroid, and the station had ultimately blown up, killing everyone still onboard. "How did she survive that?"

"To the best of my knowledge," the Chairman began, "she was tasked with bringing a few cultures of the Metroid's cells to a company we contract with called 'Biologic,' so she was not present for the attack. They work with General Harper's unit, although for peaceful and medicinal research, not bioweapons research."

"Well," Adam replied with disgust, "I think we all know if Harper could have her way, the whole damn government would be investing in bioweapons research. So Portia was a survivor of the Ceres Station? And she may have ties to Harper?"

"That would give her an ax to grind with Aran." The green alien seemed to smile morbidly. "I can't think of another reason why she would attack her. Although," he laughed callously, "it's a bit ridiculous to think of a human scientist trying to take out Samus Aran and surviving. The Metroids must have done a number on her."

Adam tried to hide his disdain. "You truly have no idea."

"So there are more Metroids, hm? And they are down in Chozo ruins? Interesting." Keaton regarded Adam with annoyance. "Isn't it funny how those two supposedly extinct species always seem to go together? And how Samus Aran always seems to be right in the middle of it?"

"Samus was just as surprised as we are." Adam did not think Samus had ever disclosed to Keaton that she was part Chozo, but he knew the green alien at least suspected it. "She spoke to Silver Wing in Chozo, so I don't know what they discussed. We were in a bit of a hurry to get her back to her ship so we could get her patched up."

"When did she deck you?"

"Excuse me, Sir?"

Keaton stared at the dark bruise on Adam's right cheek. "Aran did that, didn't she?"

Adam didn't say anything.

"Your insistence on associating with that mercenary is going to be the death of you, General."

Adam just smiled humorlessly. "If that's not, something else will be."

"Whatever the case may be, just get the rest of the survivors onto that ship and wrap up whatever you're doing on that moon. General Harper has already announced your death to the rest of the military, and people are starting to mourn you. Your funeral is slotted for a few days from now, and it would be a shame if you missed it."

"My… what?" Adam stared at the Chairman on the holoscreen. "Oh please tell me she hasn't told my wife…"

"Of course she has. It's been all over the media, the death of a leading General. You know how Harper's party is going to spin this what with the coming election. On the bright side, she still has no idea I sent Aran to retrieve you. I look forward to blindsiding her and Secretary Green with this when you return…"

Adam just grunted as he disconnected the call. Perhaps that was insubordinate of him, but it disturbed him to think of Marza and his daughters believing he was dead. Because of General Harper, no less. This was a power play if he had ever seen one. Harper and Green's support for bioweapons research was well known throughout the Federation, and with Keaton's final term coming to an end, they would be looking to get their party into power and lift the ban on such research.

As a long time supporter of the ban, Adam understood why they would want to take him out of the picture, and he now had no doubt that the explosion onboard his ship was not an accident. There were too many coincidences, right down to the fact that Portia was the only other survivor. He wondered if she had not been knocked unconscious in the blast, if she had been planning to eject the cockpit herself so they would survive. That way, she would be able to pull a Carter Burke and infect him with a xenomorph larva and call in an extraction somehow. Then he would be out of their way, and they would have their sample bioweapon.

It was a perfect murder. Except for Samus showing up. No one had counted on that. But Portia had seen the mercenary's presence as an even better opportunity. First, she could create an even more unique bioweapon, and secondly, she could take out the woman whose actions had been responsible for the Space Pirates' slaughter of everyone she worked with at Ceres.

Adam's mind went back to the mercenary asleep in the other room. Portia had created her new bioweapon all right. Perhaps not in the way she had planned, but she had fused together a new species.

It took all of Adam's willpower not to call his family and let them know he was alive, lest it tip off Harper's operatives and put them in some kind of danger. He could not have that, but never had he been so angry with a fellow General in his life. Between the attempt on his life, the slaughter of his crew, Samus's murder, and now the emotional suffering his family was enduring, he was downright furious.

Unlike Samus, he did not express his rage in a hot, open fashion. He had no desire to start punching anything or tearing the cockpit apart. Instead, he seethed in a cold, silent rage as he thought about what he would do if he ever got his hands on General Harper. Violence was not his fashion, but he would be sure to make her pay for what she had done one way or another.

 


	22. Nobody's Weapon

The air rushing through its filtration system sounded louder than usual, and the smell of something delicious lingered in the room. As Samus came to, she found herself lying in a bed feeling like she had just been hit by a train. Her muscles were sore, and her body felt like it was bruised and burning all over. By the way her head hurt and her memory felt fuzzy, she wondered if she had hit the bottle a bit too hard the night before.

It came back to her in pieces. Slowly. The battle, her death, her resurrection, reuniting with Adam and her son, her flashback, and then Adam putting her to bed. No, the headache was definitely not a hangover, unless coming back from the dead was the sort of thing that could produce a hangover.

Still hurting all over, she sat up slowly. As the air rushed through its overhead vent, she could hear it with frightening acuity as it traveled through the ship. Even as she opened her eyes, she found them instantly in tune with the darkness of the windowless room. As she looked around her, she could clearly see all of her guns mounted to the walls, and she realized there was a new level of clarity to her dark vision.

The sudden realization frightened her, and she must have made a sound because Archer picked up his head and looked at her. Breathing deeply, she hugged the giant brown dog close as she lay back down and closed her eyes.

Something was different about her. It was as though all of her senses had suddenly become much sharper, and she knew exactly what was causing it. The thought of the acidic alien blood flowing through her veins disgusted her, and she lay in her bed for a long time, just holding onto Archer and breathing.

For the first time in a very long time, Samus Aran felt scared. It was different than the sort of fear she felt when she thought she had lost her son or when she had flashbacks to her younger years. Something was happening inside of her body, and she had no control over it. The effects of the alien were spreading through her, and she could feel the changes, but she was completely helpless to do anything about it. She could not even scan her own physical status properly without the powersuit.

The loss of her armor also left her feeling vulnerable in a way she had not felt in years. Even in her darkest moments, it had been there if she needed it. She had never been without a weapon from the time it was sealed around her throat as a child, and now as she lay in bed wearing nothing but an old shirt and a pair of pajama pants, she felt completely naked. It was as though a part of her had been stolen or had died, and it was such an integral part of her, she did not know how to live without it.

But vulnerable and frightened as she was, Samus knew she still had her duties to uphold. There were still survivors somewhere on this moon. Adam and her son still needed her. She still had a contract to fulfill. Nothing had changed.

Except her.

Slowly, she sat up again and glanced over to her nightstand. There was a covered warming tray sitting beside a glass of water, and Samus knew Adam must have brought it to her while she slept. He was always fussing at her to eat something, and at this point, he knew she hadn't eaten in days.

Carefully leaning over Archer, she removed the cover of the tray and surveyed the meal within. The sweet smell of tomatoes, beef, and butter filled her nose as she looked ravenously at the food. Steam rose from a bowl of beef and vegetable soup, and beside it was a warm, melty grilled cheese sandwich, the food her son had introduced her to only a week or so ago.

Scooting over a bit so as not to disturb the dog, Samus picked up the tray and activated the hover feature so it floated just above her lap. She picked up the spoon and went straight for the soup, wolfing it down at first but then slowing to savor each mouthful. It was warm, the first warm food she had eaten since leaving Earth, and she was not sure if it was her newly heightened senses or just her level of hungriness, but it tasted absolutely amazing. It did not take her long to devour, and she moved onto the grilled cheese next. By the time she finished her meal, she could feel a warmth spreading through her body, and felt more refreshed and nourished than she had in a long time. Still, she hurt all over, but at least she felt warm and full now.

Beside the food, she noticed a little ramekin with a few different pills in it. She recognized them immediately. A couple were anti-inflammatory pills, one was a mild sedative, a few were vitamins, and the last one was the one she took every morning to help manage her PTSD. She grabbed them all in one fist and swallowed them down with the glass of water.

As she held the glass, however, she noticed her fingernails looked particularly dark, and she wondered if this was also an effect of her new genetic material. She dreaded seeing herself in the light or looking in the mirror. She could only imagine how horrid she looked now, remembering the reflections of her corrupted face in her visor during the Phaaze Incident. She wondered if she was becoming a monster or just finally looking like the one she already was.

Not quite ready to will herself out of bed yet, Samus sat up, absently petting Archer as she looked around her room. There was a reason she always slept in the cockpit, and as she stared at the rows of rifles and other weapons mounted on her wall, she knew exactly why. Her bedroom was not a bedroom. It was not a safe, relaxing place in which she felt comfortable sleeping. It was nothing more than a storage closet for her guns. As her weapons rested upon their shelves, she could not help feeling that maybe this was the most appropriate place for her as well. A weapon in a weapon's closet when not in use. After all, wasn't that what she was?

It felt like such a stupid thing for her to dwell on. The Chozo had made her into a bioweapon nearly thirty years ago. Why should anything she discovered on this mission bother her? But it did. Starting with the log she had discovered in which they had described taking her from the wreckage of K-2L and turning her into their prototype. The years of experiments. The modifications to her body. The implants in her brain so that she could interface with the powersuit around her neck. And what good were they now that the suit was gone?

Seeing Silver Wing after so many years, years during which she had believed herself to be the last living Chozo, brought with it an avalanche of emotion.

_"You've been alive all this time?"_ she had asked him in their language.

_"Many of us have,"_ he had replied dismissively.  _"This colony was a refuge for those fleeing TaIlon IV and the Imperialist Space Pirates. If we were going to advance Metroid, we needed to do it where they could not find us."_

_"And what about me?"_

_"By the time we realized you had survived the fall of Zebes, you were already fulfilling your purpose. There was no need for us to do anything. You took out our enemies and destroyed Mother and the Metroids. You were truly the greatest weapon we had ever built. Why should we interfere with such efficiency?"_

She could still hear his words, spoken to her in the language of her childhood, the language she had thought she lost so long ago. She was the greatest weapon they had ever built, their Hatchling.

"My name is Samus Aran," she said to herself now in the darkness. Her voice, at least, still sounded the same. "My name is Samus Rhonda Sinclaire Aran. I'm the daughter of Rodney Aran and Virginia Sinclaire-Aran. I am a mercenary, and I served under General Adam Malkovich in the Galactic Federation Army. I'm the mother of Hector Aran Fields and the owner of Archer Aran. I am a class-delta semi-human, but I am nobody's weapon."

Not the Chozo's weapon. Not Portia Grey's perfect bioweapon. Not even the Federation's damn lap dog.

Willing herself forward, she threw off the covers and stepped out of her bed. It hurt terribly to stand, but she ignored the pain as she made her way into the little bathroom within her room. Turning on the light, she stared at herself in the mirror above her sink.

The phazon scars on her face had become thick and black as they were during her actual infection. The entire right side of her face looked corrupted, and they traveled down the side of her neck and into her shirt. Tearing off her shirt and pants, Samus stood naked in front of the full-length mirror mounted to the bathroom door. The lines spread like black veins over her chest, concentrating around her heart before they dispersed and faded.

The rest of the scars that covered her body, the heavy ones from gunshot wounds, burns, stab wounds, surgeries, and cuts, had all flattened and faded so her alabaster skin ran smoother across her form. They were still visible, but so much less so than they had been before. Her fingernails, as she had noticed earlier, were considerably darker. They seemed almost black with a pearlescent green sheen to them, and they were thicker and harder than before.

The last things she looked at were her eyes. They had always been a cold gray-blue, but now they had green in them. They might have been very pretty under different circumstances. The green and blue mixed together to form a beautiful bright teal color, but to Samus, it looked anything but beautiful. It was the symbol of everything that was now wrong with her body. It was the result of the alien, of that invader, who had filled her veins and was now a part of her. It was the enemy she could not shoot, the enemy not only within her, but who actually was her.

"Abomination," she whispered as she stared at herself. It was not until Archer followed her into the tiny bathroom and licked her hand that she looked away from the mirror and stared at the dog. "But you still recognize me?"

The dog looked up at her. He gave a slight wag of his tail, which was more expression than he usually ever showed.

Samus knelt down beside the dog and embraced him as he sat. "Good boy," she whispered, scratching him behind the ears and nestling her face into his thick neck. "You're right. I'm still me. Just got a new upgrade, right? No use feeling sorry for myself over something I can't change, right?"

The dog rested his snout on her shoulder and licked his nose. She liked to think this this was his version of hugging her back.

"I'm going to take a shower now," she told him as she stood up. "There's still all that alien slime in my hair and whatever that stuff was I was floating in."

The dog just looked at her. He sat and watched over her silently as she proceeded to get in the shower and washherself.

The hot water pouring over her sore body felt like heaven to Samus, and as the remnants of the Chozo fluid, alien slime, sweat, and dried blood finally washed off her body, she felt renewed. As she shampooed her hair and washed her body, she began to feel clean, and it was a feeling she welcomed. Whether the alien was a part of her or not, for a moment, it did not matter. Her body might have been different, but her mind, at least, was hers. She had endured changes in her life before, changes in her body.

As she stepped out of the shower, she wrapped herself in a fresh towel and dried off as best she could. As she dried her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror, trying to become familiar with the changes in her face and body, trying to normalize it all. It would take some time, she knew, before she ever felt normal again. Not that she had ever been any kind of normal in the first place.

As she stepped back into her bedroom, she glanced over to the empty tray of food Adam had brought for her, and she felt truly thankful to have him. Throughout her adult life, he had been the one constant thing. He had always treated her like a person, welcomed her into his family, and looked out for her wellbeing even when she did not look out for it herself. There were no words to express how grateful she was to have him and her son both alive and safe on her ship, especially after thinking she had lost both of them.

She still hurt terribly, and the loss of her suit combined with the alien changes within her still frightened her down to her very core, but she didn't have time to waste feeling sorry for herself.

The first thing she did was make her bed, just as she had done every morning since her army days. Then, going into a small dresser, she pulled out a plain black jumpsuit and slipped it on. It was form fitting although not tight. With a red band, she tied her blonde hair into a high ponytail and slipped on a pair of combat boots. Once she was all dressed, she looked over to the guns sitting on their racks on her wall. Picking out three high-powered rifles, she set them on the bed for later. She put on a utility belt containing an assortment of explosives and other tools and holstered a gun to each hip. She holstered one to each thigh as well and added a small one to an ankle clip that she tucked into her boot. If she didn't have the powersuit, she would have to be armed to the teeth, and this was a start.

After all, there were still survivors to rescue and a contract to fulfill.

Looking back at Archer, she smiled as she opened the door and stepped into her living room. The first thing on her agenda would be to make herself a cup of coffee and ask Adam what she had missed while she had been asleep all those hours.

 


	23. Chimera

More than a full day had passed, and there still had not been any sign that General Malkovich or the boy were coming back. While Ripley had initially been as inclined as they were to believe that maybe the bounty hunter had somehow survived, she was now certain that Samus Aran had died. And she no longer believed that either the General, the boy, or Private Vasquez would be returning.

Lieutenant Ripley sat in the corner of the bunker farthest from the hatch, Newt's head resting in her lap as the little girl slept. The flight officer barely paid the child any mind as she cradled her rifle and stared vacantly at the steel bunker around her. Supplies were getting low, and the sun would be rising soon. Not that it really mattered anymore. It seemed the creatures could be just as inclined to come out during the day if they had the proper motivation.

Portia, Bishop, Newt, and herself. Those were the only survivors left now. One was a child, another a synthetic, and another likely a traitor. She could not know for sure why Portia had lied about Samus's last words, but it had occurred to her a couple of times that perhaps the doctor had only made them up to try to comfort the bounty hunter's obviously distraught son.

Not that his distress mattered now. In all likelihood, he had joined his mother in death, and with them had gone all of their fears, uncertainties, aspirations, everything. They had simply ceased to be.

She regretted the way she had treated the bounty hunter as something less than human. In the end, she had basically sacrificed herself to save her, Newt, and her son. The way she had let the xenomorphs tear her apart so Ripley could escape had likely contributed a large part in her demise. Samus Aran may not have been human, but she also was not some money-hungry mercenary who only cared about the bottom line.

Ripley glanced over to Bishop, and the android looked back at her. He had not shown one iota of treachery since they had departed for this mission, and yet, she still judged him by the actions of Ash, the android who had betrayed them all on the _Nostromo_. This time around, the most dangerous among them had been humans, full-blooded humans at that. Carter Burke and Portia Grey had done a great deal of damage, but Samus and even Bishop had only ever acted in ways that benefited the group. Even if Samus was rough around the edges and Bishop had that creepy look to him, their lack of humanity had not stopped either of them from being decent and supportive individuals. The flight officer began to question her own perceptions of humanity and wondered if perhaps it was only prejudice that had created her distrust in the two of them.

At this point, she did not have any choice but to trust Bishop. He was her only ally now if they wanted to escape from this moon. Newt was only a child, and there was no way she could put even one ounce of trust into the doctor.

"It's been a long time," she whispered to Bishop. "If the good doctor has been itching to get out of here, I think there's a chance she might know of an extraction point."

The android regarded Ripley quietly for a moment. "Then why did she not say something earlier?"

The flight officer shrugged. "Maybe it had to do with the General or Samus. Perhaps she didn't want them rescued for some reason."

"It doesn't make a lot of sense," he said in his calm manner. "But then again, none of this makes sense."

"It does," Ripley replied as she glanced at the doctor, who was pacing nervously by the hatch, "if you factor in human greed. Burke, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, whoever set the bomb on the General's ship… everything that's gone wrong and stranded us here has been because someone stood to gain something by sacrificing us or murdering the General."

"What do you propose we do about it?" The android's voice conveyed no emotion, but Ripley could tell he was prepared to follow whatever order she gave.

"Grab a rifle and a sidearm. We're making a rush for the ship we came in on, and if that's a suicide mission at this point, then so be it. Our hope's run out. We need to fight."

Bishop simply nodded as he and Ripley stood. She nudged Newt awake, and the little girl opened her eyes, looked at her, and then got up as well.

"Dr. Grey," the flight officer called, holstering a side arm and slinging her rifle around to her back. "I think you're right, and we've waited long enough."

Portia looked over to her. "You're sure?"

Ripley nodded as she handed Bishop the flamethrower. "What're you packing, Doctor?"

"What am I…? Oh, you mean my gun?" Portia pulled her sidearm from its holster and held it out to Ripley. "S'all I got."

Ripley took the gun from her and noted it had a full charge. The weapon had never been fired. She promptly turned and handed it to Bishop.

"Hey!" Portia stared at the flight officer in shock. "What am I supposed to use to protect myself?"

"Whatever you used to protect Private Vasquez." Ripley glared at her. "And you obviously didn't use that gun."

Portia looked like she wanted to protest but found herself at a loss for words as she looked between the flight officer and the android. There was nothing she could think of to say that would make that accusation any less damning.

Still glaring at the doctor, Ripley pulled her own side arm out of its holster and handed it to Newt. She gave Portia a look that dared her to challenge her, but the doctor didn't speak. She didn't have to; the look in her eyes like a cornered animal said everything words couldn't.

"Open the hatch, Doctor," Ripley ordered, cocking her rifle and readying it for whatever might be on the other side.

* * *

"Good morning, Adam," Samus called as she stepped into the cockpit, a steaming cup of coffee in each hand.

The General stirred in the pilot's seat, opening his eyes with a yawn as he looked back at her. "Good morning, Lady. I must have dozed off." He accepted the coffee from Samus but noticed she looked concerned. "What's troubling you?"

"Your… face." Samus pulled down the bucket seat on the back wall and sat down in it. "Your face looks almost as bad as mine. Did I—?"

Adam just nodded, breathing in the steam coming off of the coffee. "It's all right. You had an attack. You weren't strong enough to do any real damage." The General kept his voice soft and even. He knew what a touchy subject this sort of thing was for Samus. One of her greatest fears was lashing out and hurting someone when she was angry or having a flashback. It was one of the main reasons she had given her son away at birth. "It's only a bruise."

His face was not bruised badly, but the fact that she had hit him at all made Samus feel sick to her stomach as she stared at Adam. "I… I'm sorry. I really am."

He waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing, Samus. You had just been through a lot, and you didn't realize who I was. You… begged me to stop running tests on you."

Samus's eyes widened. "Please tell me Hector didn't see that."

"He didn't. We made sure he was out of the room before we checked you out."

Samus nodded. "I remember that. I remember… the blood and everything. Just parts of it are fuzzy. I'm sorry I hit you… I don't know what I was seeing."

_Yes you do,_ Adam thought to himself as he saw the mercenary's disgust as she tried to piece together what had happened. _You still won't admit it though, and I won't make you. Not today._

"You're too good to me, Adam," she said with a sad smile. "I slug you right across the face, and you respond by taking care of me and bringing me breakfast in bed. I really don't deserve such excessive pampering."

Adam laughed. "A bowl of canned soup and a grilled cheese sandwich is excessive pampering? I suppose it would seem like that to you. Goodness, Lady, do you know how hard I had to look for anything on this ship that wasn't an MRE or a bottle of whiskey? How do you feed yourself when I'm not around?"

Samus laughed. "Poorly, I guess. I don't think much about food."

He looked at her sternly. "You really need to make an effort to keep yourself better stocked in food than in liquor.

The bounty hunter waved her hand dismissively. "I've kept myself alive this long, haven't I? By the way, how long was I out?" she asked, taking a sip of coffee and composing herself.

Adam glanced over to the clock on the dash. "Close to twenty hours. How are you feeling?" He was happy to see she looked clean and well put-together.

"Like I got hit by a train." She made a face. "I just hurt all over still. And I just… I really hate what's happening to my body. I feel like I'm becoming an abomination…"

"Lady—"

"I mean, how much more can they strip away? How many more pieces can be taken and switched out before I'm not even human at all anymore?"

Adam grunted. "Humanity is overrated."

"Easy for you to say. You don't have to worry that every time you cut yourself shaving that it's going to burn through the floor of your shower."

"I'd take scary, veiny, barely-human Samus over most full-blooded humans any day. Especially the ones high up in our military."

"Oh?" The bounty hunter looked curiously at her friend. It was unlike him to insult Federation officials, particularly anyone in the military.

Adam sighed and shook his head. "Apparently you aren't the only one who died on this trip."

"I kinda figured that," she replied. "Your whole ship blew up, and there's barely any Colonial Marines left."

"No, that's not what I mean." Adam looked at her very seriously. "I'm apparently dead."

Samus raised her eyebrows. "Oh really?"

The General nodded. "It's already been reported throughout the media, and General Harper made sure to tell my family personally. Apparently, this whole thing is part of some kind of coup d'état by Secretary of Defense Green and the rest of his party. They're trying to eliminate opposition to bioweapons research. That's why Portia planted a bomb on my ship."

Samus didn't say anything for a moment as she drank her coffee and listened to the General. "And why she tried to murder me. She wanted to see what kind of bioweapon she could get by incubating a xenomorph larva within me."

"There's more," Adam added, shifting uncomfortably. He knew Samus did not like discussing anything to do with the infant Metroid and her final mission to Zebes, but it needed to be done. "Portia was one of the scientists onboard the Ceres research station. She had apparently left before Ridley attacked, but… Keaton thinks she might have an ax to grind with you for bringing that Metroid there in the first place."

The color drained from Samus's face as she stared at him. "She has… very good reason to hate me then. I'm the reason all of the people on that station got killed. If I'd have just completed my mission and not brought back the infant Metroid, they never would have been attacked."

"Lady…" Adam shook his head. "You can't beat yourself up over that. You didn't kill those people. Ridley did. You brought the Metroid back because you thought you were helping the galaxy. You had no way of knowing what would happen."

She shuddered and gripped the coffee mug tighter. "Never again."

Adam paused. He watched her quietly, not sure how to bring up what he needed to ask. She was holding herself together better than he had expected, but he knew they were pressing into deeply uncomfortable territory.

"Samus," he asked softly, "are you planning to… continue taking contracts after this?"

She looked surprised for a moment. "I hadn't given it any thought. I don't see why I would stop."

"It might be a good idea to lay low for a while, Lady. The tides are changing on the highest levels of the Federation's government, and I'm really questioning the direction the new regime will take it in given… all this."

Samus nodded. "You're probably right about that."

"And you have even more of a reason now to stay out of the public eye. Portia may not have succeeded in making her bioweapon the way she wanted, but what happened to you might attract attention from the wrong kinds of people."

The bounty hunter stared at the General. "Because I am the bioweapon Portia made. And if this new pro-bioweapon regime comes in, they'll be dying to get their hands on me." She shook her head. "I can protect myself. They'd be really stupid to try messing with Samus Aran."

Adam regarded her sadly. "Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you." He turned to one of the energy ports in the dash, opened it, and pulled out the powersuit on its heavy chain. "We should make sure this is in working order first."

Samus stared at the large pendant as he held it out to her. She knew she needed to try putting it on and activating it, but the suit was a bit of a sore spot right now. This was the first time in her adult life she had been unbound from the Chozo, and after her encounter with Silver Wing, she was not sure how she felt about donning their mantle again. Still, she knew she had duties to people and to the galaxy, and she reluctantly took the suit from Adam's hand.

With a deep breath, she put it around her neck and pushed together the broken ends of chain. Thirty years ago, when it had first been sealed onto her, the ends had fused automatically. Now, they just lifelessly touched one another, and the chain remained open. Samus pulled it off of her neck, held the heavy pendant in her palm, and stared at it. She wondered if the energy of the powersuit was even still inside of it anymore or if she merely held the lifeless husk of what was once a part of her. It was designed to die with her, and as far as she could tell it had.

She stared sadly at the dull piece of metal in her hand. So many emotions filled her at once. On one hand, she was free from the collar the Chozo had put on her all those years ago. She wasn't a walking gun anymore. But on the other hand, she had lost an integral part of herself, her best means of protection. Without the powersuit, she was simply a person, a severely mutated person with limited enhanced abilities. But she would no longer be a great Chozo warrior or a "superhero" as her son had called her the day she met him and disclosed her identity.

"It's dead, Adam," she muttered as she handed the powersuit back to the General. "I can feel it."

He nodded soberly as he took the suit and placed it on the console. "What do you want to do?"

Samus shrugged. "We need to save Ripley and the others, right? Then we get the hell outta dodge and crash your funeral and find a way to bust the perps behind this, right? Now get outta my chair so I can steer this thing over back to where Ripley and the others are at."

Adam nodded, and the two of them switched seats. As Samus took her seat and placed her hand over the steering sphere, an alert flashed up on the display.

_"Warning,"_ the ship's computer said as the cabin lights began to glow red. _"Unknown life form at controls. Access denied."_

Samus grunted and pounded her fist on the armrest. "Fuck it all!" A sound like a growl emitted from her throat as she turned to look at Adam. "It doesn't recognize me because of the alien DNA."

As her temper spiked, Adam remained calm in an attempt to anchor her. "Okay, this has happened before. You made sure to build in an override feature after the Phaaze Incident, remember?"

Samus grit her teeth and nodded. "I remember. I just wish there was one thing I could do without it suddenly being just so damn complicated."

She opened a panel and entered a code into the dash. A small robot descended from the ceiling and scanned her retinas, followed by another robot descending and scanning her whole body. She leaned back in the chair as the ship performed the series of scans. The only problem came when it tried to give her a blood test, and her now acidic blood burned right through the needle, but it must have managed to get some kind of blood sample because it pulled up her genome mapping on a holoscreen.

_"New data entered for unknown life form. Genome sequencing completed. Life form's genome consists of 45% human, 30% Chozo, 20% Xenomorph XX121, 2% Metroid, 1% Space Pirate, 1% Eievui, 1% Other. Traces of phazon and other foreign materials in organism. 80% match to bounty hunter Samus Aran."_

Samus took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. "I was expecting human, Chozo, and xenomorph. I guess I really do take on the genetic material of other creatures I've come in contact with."

Adam stared at her quietly for a moment. "Eievui? Metroid? _Space Pirate_?"

The bounty hunter sighed and nodded. "My unstable genome was build around the material of a small brown mammal the Chozo discovered that mutated based on what was around it. I read that in one of their logs recently. I guess that would be what 'Eievui' is. Space Pirate… well, one omega phazon pirate fell on me, and I absorbed its energy. That's how I ended up with the Phazon suit back on Tallon IV. I guess part of it stayed with me."

"And Metroid?" Adam asked, knowing she was avoiding the topic.

Samus closed her eyes and leaned back deeper into the chair. "Mother Brain defeated me on my final mission to Zebes. I was too badly injured even to stand, and she was about to finish me when my Metroid appeared. It had grown to a giant size… It lifted me up, and instead of sucking life energy out of me, I learned it could also give me its energy. I was about to return to the fight with Mother when she shot out a powerful blast and killed it. Its… entrails fell all over me, and I absorbed them right through my suit, and I used its powers to create a sort of hyper beam that easily vanquished Mother. I just sort of… assumed it wasn't part of me anymore once the hyper beam was depleted." Samus swallowed hard. "I guess this isn't new then… I've been becoming less and less human for a long time now."

"You're a chimera," Adam said quietly. "A perfect combination of two or more life forms, capable of taking the genetic material of other organisms and making it your own so you can constantly evolve. You're what bioweapon experts have been trying to synthesize for centuries and failing. You're like the philosopher's stone of bioweapon's research, a true chimera."

"Chimera," Samus repeated quietly. "So not just a semi-human then. Something different entirely."

Adam nodded. "And that's all the more reason to make sure Federation officials know as little about you as possible."

Samus nodded. "Losing the powersuit will help with that. That's the piece of technology they've always been most interested in. Without it, I'm just a weirdly scarred genetically enhanced human, as far as they are concerned."

"It would be wise for us to keep it that way."

"Agreed," Samus said as she placed her hand back on the sphere and took control of the ship. The dash lit up as the engine came to life once more. "Now, let's head over to the bunker, pick up Ripley and them, and get the hell off this moon."


	24. No Going Back Now

Still glaring at the doctor, Ripley pulled her own side arm out of its holster and handed it to Newt. She gave Portia a look that dared her to challenge her, but the doctor didn't speak. She didn't have to; the look in her eyes like a cornered animal said everything words couldn't.

"Open the hatch, Doctor," Ripley ordered, cocking her rifle and readying it for whatever might be on the other side.

Portia watched Ripley for a moment, wondering if the flight officer was seriously going to send her out onto the surface believing her to be unarmed. Of course, she knew one thing Ripley didn't. The flight officer may have taken her original gun, but she still had the side arm she had taken off of Samus's body after stabbing her. It was concealed under her jacket, and for now it would stay there.

"Fine," the doctor replied, turning away from the rest of the group and facing the hatch. Without looking back, she climbed up the ladder and undid the lock. Only once she had opened the hatch did she turn back to the others. "Are you coming?"

Ripley nodded and followed as Portia climbed up and out of sight. Bishop went after her, and Newt followed behind. As they arrived at the base of the elevator shaft, however, Ripley knew something was not right. She only had a moment after noticing the clear slime coating the outside of the hatch before all hell broke loose.

Newt screamed as she watched the alien emerge from the shadows and grab Portia from behind. It did not take Ripley long to send a blast from her pulse rifle straight into its face, irritating the creature and causing it to drop the doctor. Portia yelped as she tumbled to the ground and rolled out of the way, ducking and covering her head once she crawled to one of the far corners of the room.

With Portia out of its arms, the xenomorph roared and slashed its arms toward Ripley, but Bishop threw himself in the way, firing a shot at the creature's face in the process. White liquid poured from where the creature had slashed the android, but he did not seem phased by it.

As Newt trembled and stepped away, the little girl held up the gun and pointed it toward the alien. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the trigger. The blast barely skimmed the top of the alien's skeletal back, but it was enough to draw its attention. As it turned to Newt, it stood up to its full seven-foot height and screamed, the smaller mouth extending from the larger one as it lunged toward her. Closing her eyes and shrinking back, Newt fired twice more in its direction, both shots skimming off of its sides.

The girl's attacks, however, served as the perfect distraction as Ripley and Bishop took the opportunity to open fire on it from behind. The alien screamed and reared up, turning away from the child and toward the others. As Bishop continued firing shots at it, Ripley dodged to the side. The creature stalked toward the android as he backed away toward the open hatch. Ripley switched out her rifle for the flamethrower and held her fire as she waited for Bishop to lure the alien into the perfect location. Once it was close enough to the hatch, however, she ran forward, shooting a line of flame straight at the creature's face.

The alien flew into a panic as the flames scorched its exoskeleton. It stumbled backward, off balance. Bishop took the opportunity to ram his body into the disoriented creature, pushing it down the open hatch. He barely managed to avoid being pulled down with it as he jumped backward. Together, he and Ripley closed and locked the hatch from the outside as quickly as possible. From within the bunker, they could hear the sounds of the alien clawing in an attempt to escape, but the heavy metal hatch held. With sighs of relief they backed way from it.

"No going back now," Ripley said quietly as Newt ran into her arms. She lifted the trembling girl and hugged her close as Bishop came to stand beside them. The flight officer looked at the gash in the android's abdomen. "Does that hurt?"

"Not in the way a human might conceptualize pain," he replied calmly. "I will repair itself.

Ripley nodded, still staring at the tear. "Thank for taking that hit for me. You saved my life, Bishop…"

The android eyed her quietly. "Like I said earlier, I am programmed such that I can allow no harm to come to the humans around me."

Walking toward them like a dog with its tail between its legs, Portia rejoined the group. She did not say anything as she looked between the other three.

"We should head to the elevator," Ripley said, ignoring the doctor. "We don't know how long that hatch will hold, and we need to get going."

"Where are we going?" Newt asked, still clinging tightly to Ripley.

"We could go back to the Army's ship's cockpit," Portia interjected suddenly. "There should be an emergency supply box on board with a transmitter."

Ripley stared at the doctor. "And you're just mentioning this now?"

"I just thought of it."

"General Malkovich already went through the red survival box," the flight officer replied. "I think if there was a functioning transmitter inside, he would have noticed it."

The doctor shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe he missed it. Or it wasn't working right? We could fix it… if that's the case, I mean."

"Our ship is overrun with xenomorphs," Bishop said, turning to Ripley. "I have little doubt theirs also will be."

Ripley thought for a moment, intrigued by Portia's mention of the transmitter. If her plan had involved taking out the General, it would make sense that there would be some kind of fail safe in place so she could call for an extraction but he could not. Perhaps there was something only she knew about how to activate in the transmitter. On the other hand, she considered, whomever she was in cahoots with was not likely to let anyone else live. Even if she could call in an extraction, it would likely only be for herself.

"We're going back to the Colonial Marine ship," Ripley stated firmly, putting Newt down and grabbing her pulse rifle once more. "Maybe the xenomorphs have cleared out now that there's no one left on board, or maybe we'll have to fight them. Either way, it's the only working ship on this moon aside from Samus's, and none of us even know how to get into that one."

Bishop and Newt nodded, but Portia glared at the flight officer. Ripley glared back, daring her to say anything, but the doctor kept her mouth shut. Without another word, the four of them headed into the elevator and closed it behind them. A tense silence hung over the group as they ascended to the surface, each one wondering what fresh hell awaited them at the top.

As they stepped out of the elevator, Ripley and Bishop kept their weapons at the ready, looking around on all sides for any sign of an alien, but the coast was clear as they made it outside to the desolate streets. The sun cast its eerie orange glow over all of the buildings, but they paid it no mind as they went forward toward where they had left the ship so many days ago, each of the humans wondering if they were heading toward certain death.

They walked through the debris-covered streets for a long time without interruption. Ripley wondered if now that their greatest threat was eliminated the aliens had gone back to sleeping during the day. It seemed logical that they would return to more predictable patterns with Samus out of the picture. Ripley thought about the bounty hunter, wishing they had her protection and wondering if even she would have been strong enough to clear their ship of the aliens. She recalled the way she had pulled one of the creatures from a ventilation shaft and incinerated it as though it were paper and the way she had taken on a whole horde of them down in the mines. If someone like that had not been able to survive on this moon, the odds did not seem good for their rag tag little group.

They were almost on the outskirts of the colony when they heard a sudden skittering coming from one of the empty buildings. Not missing a beat, Ripley and Bishop turned their weapons in the sound's direction just in time to fire at the grotesque alien as it emerged from the shadows and lunged at them. As though anticipating their fire, however, it dodged quickly to the side. As the android and the flight officer continued to follow it with their shots, the creature kept dodging, making no sign that it planned to break its elusive pattern and attack them again.

It was only when they heard Newt's scream that they realized what the alien was doing. In their distraction, a second creature had emerged and grabbed the little girl.

"Ripley!" she screamed as the second alien snatched her up in its boney black arms and started to run off.

"Newt!" Ripley screamed as she released a barrage of blasts at the creature's back, but it was too fast. She tried running after it, only to be cut off by the first alien as it slashed at her. Its claws ran through empty air as the flight officer jumped backwards and shot it in the face.

The alien screamed and shook off the blow as Ripley tried to chase after Newt once more, but it was too late and the alien was already well out of sight. Screaming in rage, the flight officer turned to the alien closest to her and fired a rapid burst of pulse shots at it, many hitting their mark squarely in its face and chest.

Roaring in pain and annoyance, the alien turned away from Ripley and skittered back off into the shadows, fleeing until they could no longer see or hear it.

Panic seized Ripley as she looked back and forth into the distance, no sign of where the creature had taken Newt. Eventually, she turned back to Bishop and Portia. Both stared at her expectantly, Bishop in his usual serene way, and Portia wide-eyed and nervous.

"Where did they take her?" Ripley demanded, taking a step toward the doctor.

"What?" Portia snapped back. "How should I know?"

"Cut the crap, Portia," Ripley spat, stepping up on the doctor and grabbing her roughly by the shirt collar. "Where the fuck did they take her? What do these things do? Did they bring her back to a hive? Are they going to use her as a host? What the fuck do these things do?"

Portia looked back at Ripley, surprised that the other woman had actually gotten physical with her. "They probably took her back to the nest. This species, from what we can tell, takes live victims and sort of cocoons them in the nest. Once the eggs hatch, the facehuggers emerge, they latch onto the closet host and impregnate it with a xenomorph larva."

"And where's the nest?" Ripley demanded, shoving the doctor backward while still holding onto her.

"What? Forget the nest! We need to get out of here!"

"Not without Newt," the flight officer growled, slamming Portia into the wall of a nearby building.

The doctor gasped at the impact and stared at Ripley in disbelief. "You're insane if you think we could ever get down to the nest and rescue her! She's as good as dead now! Forget about her."

Pressing the nose of her rifle to Portia's throat, Ripley stared grimly into the other woman's eyes. "I know you know where the entrance to the nest is. Either you take me there willingly, or I kill you and find it myself. I'm not fucking around, Portia. Either we get off this moon with Newt, or no one gets off at all. Your choice."

Portia swallowed hard, staring nervously at the other woman. She knew she was not bluffing. "Fine. I'll take you to the entrance. But I'm not going down there with you. You're on your own. These things will stop at nothing to protect their nest, and there's a queen down there that will make any of the xenomorphs we've seen so far look like bugs. And believe me, if one of the worker drones doesn't get you, she will."

"I'll take my chances," Ripley snapped, throwing the doctor away from the wall and pressing her rifle up to her back. "Now lead us there. And don't you dare fuck around and take us to the wrong place. The only reason you're still alive is because you're useful, and this is your only use."

Portia looked back at Ripley for a moment, her heart racing. She thought of the gun hidden in her jacket, but she knew she would not have time to draw it before Ripley could pull the trigger on her rifle. And she would not hesitate to pull that trigger. Without another word, the doctor turned back and looked ahead of her. Remembering her briefings with General Harper, she set off in the direction from which the military had approximated the xenomorph swarm had originated. She only hoped she was right and that once they got there, she would have an opportunity to run off.


	25. Inhuman

Samus gently lowered her ship to the ground, hovering it just above the debris-laden streets in the ruins of the colony. She was just glad she was able to find a spot big enough to land it so close to the entrance to the elevator shaft that led down to the bunker where the others were hiding. That would make rescuing them far simpler, and they would be able to pile into her ship and get the hell off LV-426 before anything else had the chance to attack them. Hopefully.

As she landed and put the ship into its docking mode, she stared out at the world through the forward window for a while. She knew it would not take long to get down to the bunker and back, but it still concerned her. There was no telling where the xenomorphs were now, and the fact that it was still light out did not really protect her. It would have been a good time for the powersuit to still be alive and functioning, but unless she could figure out what was wrong with it, that might never be the case again.

Though she did not say anything aloud to Adam, she had some theories about why the suit had stopped functioning and how she might go about fixing that. It made sense when she thought about it, especially in light of the new information about her genetic code. When she had been outfitted with the powersuit, she had been a human-Chozo hybrid. Any other changes to her DNA had occurred while the suit was still part of her body, and they were assimilated into it as well. The moment she had died, however, it had snapped off of her neck, and her body had not incorporated the xenomorph genes until after she and the suit were separated. There was a chance that, like her ship, her suit simply no longer recognized her genetic code.

At least, that was what she hoped. She had no way of knowing. She was not a scientist, and she did not understand Chozo technology much better than the Federation did. But there was someone who did.

Her mind raced back to her encounter with Silver Wing after she had woken up from her death-sleep. She had known the old Chozo back on Zebes, although he was not one of the Zebesian Chozo. He came and went from time to time, bringing goods and information from the other settlements. She had not paid him much mind then. He was one of the more standoffish birds in the flock, and he had never seemed quite comfortable with a human girl living amongst them. If she could have found any of her ancestors living on this moon, he would not have been the one she picked. But he was the one who was here, and he had implied there were others living down in the ruins with him. Samus might not have been an expert on Chozo technology, but she knew Silver was. After all, his visits to Zebes usually meant there was some new test Grey Voice and the others would end up running on her. Or some new battle tactic she would have to learn. Or some new technology they would install on her. Silver's presence always meant an "update" was coming. If there were anyone in the galaxy who would know how to fix her suit, he would be the one.

Once Ripley and the others were safely on board her ship, she would have to go back down into the mines to find him. That was the plan, anyway, even if she wasn't telling Adam about it. She knew he would object, especially to her going down into the mines alone without her powersuit, but she knew she had to do it anyway. When she had first awoken to find Adam and the Chozo staring at her, she had been dead set on simply getting out of there as quickly as possible. Naked and barely able to stand, she had not felt comfortable in the Chozo's presence, especially after realizing her son shared some of her abnormalities and that if Silver had learned of the boy's presence, he might have decided he wanted a new weapon. And Samus knew she had not had the strength to oppose him then.

But now the boy was safe aboard her ship, and even if she didn't have her suit, she was still armed to the teeth with some of the most advanced weaponry to ever come out of Federation territory. She might have still been fighting off the malingering effects of the feeling of betrayal she had felt upon encountering the Chozo again, but she was sure of one thing. She wanted her powersuit back. It may have come from them originally, but it had been hers for three decades, and even if the Space Pirate War was over, she still had work to do. They had built her to become the "Protector of the Galaxy", and even in spite of them, she intended to continue that job.

Figuring out that there were officials in the government actively making attempts on Adam's life and willing to sacrifice sentient beings for bioweapons research did not sit right with her. And if her new enemies were those within the Federation, then so be it. She was getting her suit back and making sure she had every advantage possible before going into that battle. But first, she needed to rescue Ripley's group.

Samus stood up from her seat and looked around the cockpit. She was alone for the moment. Adam had gone to brief Hector on the situation while she flew the ship. She was not sure how much he was telling the boy about what had happened and her new condition, and she was not sure she wanted to know just yet. One thing at a time. At the moment, it was not important whether or not her son knew she had been raised from the dead by alien bird men and now had acid for blood.

As she stepped out of the cockpit and into her living area, she saw Adam and Hector look over at her from the couch. Words could not express how relieving it felt to see them, the two most important people in her life, safely aboard the ship. She walked over and sat on top of the small coffee table that faced the couch.

"We're at the bunker," she said, looking between her son and the General. Adam stared back at her with concern in his gray eyes but otherwise stoic and understanding. Hector looked up at her nervously, fear in his wide eyes. "I'm going to head down there, get Ripley and the others, and bring them back onto this ship. Then we're gonna get out of here."

"Lady…" Adam began, not sure how to continue with what he intended to say. "Are you sure it's wise to go out there… as you are?"

Samus gave him a look that was not quite a glare. "I've recovered. I'm sore still, but I'm fine. I feel strong, and this isn't an errand that's going to take long."

The General nodded, still clearly trying to figure out the best way to broach the topic. "I know you've more or less healed from your injuries. I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go out there alone without the powersuit."

The bounty hunter's look turned into a full glare as she stared at her friend. She knew he would make a fuss over the loss of the armor, but she was prepared. "Adam Malkovich," she began firmly, "I may not have the powersuit anymore, but I am still a well-trained, highly experienced mercenary with the genetic modifications of a super soldier. I've been through eleven years of intense training with the Chozo, time in the Federation Army, and fifteen years working as a mercenary. And for eight of those years I single-handedly took the most extremely dangerous missions the Federation needed completed. And I delivered on every single one of those. I took point during the Phazon Crisis, and I ended the Space Pirate War. I've been through Hell and back… literally. I may not have the powersuit anymore, but I am still Samus Aran. I am more than just a suit of armor."

As she finished speaking, Adam looked at her quietly, his mind still trying to formulate a response. "I know you are more than just the powersuit," he said softly but purposefully. "I've always asserted that you are more than just a weapon, Samus. You know that. But it doesn't change the fact that you are at something of a disadvantage now, and you are more vulnerable to attack if you encounter one of those aliens. Not to mention whatever Portia's up to… I'm not suggesting you stay on the ship. I know I couldn't stop you from going out there even if I wanted to. But please, consider letting me join you. So you have someone watching your back. Hector can stay on the ship and fly it away if need be. But Lady… please consider letting me come with you in case something goes wrong."

Samus stared at Adam for a long moment. "I just got you on this ship. I'm not risking losing you again."

"And I can say the same to you," he replied. "But I'm a General, Samus. I would never order one of my soldiers to go out alone for this kind of thing, and I feel the same about you going out there. I know you're used to working alone, but there is another option right now."

"You have a family, Adam."

The General raised an eyebrow and gestured to her son sitting next to him.

"Um," Hector muttered as he stared at the mercenary. "I'm right here, you know… I'm still a thing…"

Adam nodded. "And what about Morrigan? And your… um, relationship? With Officer Rodriguez?"

"I don't think 'relationship' is the right word," Samus replied. "It's more like an 'it's complicated'. And okay, yeah, I see your point."

"So let me go down with you to the bunker," Adam said.

Samus rolled her eyes and grunted. "Fine. Go in my room and grab some guns. Whichever you want, I don't really care. They seem to dislike heat and fire so I'd recommend something based on that."

Adam smiled as he stood up. "Thank you, Lady."

Samus made a noise and shook her head, but she also stood up and followed him into the bedroom. She already had five handguns on her belt and holsters. She turned to the three rifles she had laid out on her bed earlier.

"Pick one of those," she said to Adam, gesturing to the rifles. "Those are the three I think would be best."

The General nodded and surveyed the rifles. He selected one and strapped it to his back. Samus took the other two and waited as he outfitted himself with some backup firearms. She still didn't approve of him coming with her, but she knew he had a point. If there was the option to have someone watching her back, she should take it, same as she would do for him. It was a pretty standard protocol.

When they had finished arming themselves and bid goodbye to Hector, Samus led the way to the hatch so they could exit the ship. While she did not want to say anything, it did make her feel better to know the General would be watching her back. Even if she was a very experienced mercenary, she still felt naked without her powersuit. She may not have needed it for every mission, but she would not have tried to navigate LV-426 without it. After all, she had managed to get herself killed even with the armor. Going back into battle without it seemed like a spectacularly bad idea, but she didn't have a choice, and hopefully it would not take long to rescue Ripley's group.

As they stood atop the ship, she surveyed the desolate colony before her. Burned down buildings and gray ash littered the landscape, and the sun cast a sickly orange light over everything that made it seem as if it were still slowly smoldering away. The wind blew through her hair, even as it was tied back, and she could feel it on her face. The air smelled of sulfur and decay, and it was cold and raw. It felt strange to be suddenly so exposed to the elements after spending so much of her time here in the protection of the powersuit.

Samus took her plasma rifle in her hands, locked and loaded. It was hardly a substitute for her usual firepower, but having it made her feel more secure nonetheless. Its metallic finish felt familiar in her hands. She had used this piece in combat before, on missions when she had elected not to use her armor and give away her identity. It was a sturdy, reliable gun, and it had served her well over the years, even if it could not compare to the suit.

"You ready?" she asked Adam as she stared at the building that housed the elevator shaft down to the bunker.

"Whenever you are," he replied.

Samus nodded and used her watch to interface with the ship and summon a light platform similar to the one they had ridden up on. She felt fine to jump off the ship, but she knew Adam's body could not handle that impact. As they rode to the ground together on the light platform, neither one said anything. Samus's senses were on high alert and sharply in tune with the world around her. Since incorporating the xenomorph genes, her hearing had taken on a much higher definition and had gained a phenomenal three-dimensional quality. She could hear everything around her and pinpoint the origins of the sounds like never before, even small sounds she had never heard before. Every rattling pebble and drop of moisture became part of a three-dimensional landscape that she could almost see as clearly as if she were using her eyes.

Nothing stirred around them as Samus and Adam stepped off of the platform and walked toward the building, guns at the ready. The General stayed a few steps behind the mercenary, letting her take the lead as they entered. Samus moved slowly, diligently checking her blind spots as she rounded every corner and keeping her weapon at optimal accessibility. She moved with the intense level of caution of someone all too aware of their own mortality. But as they entered the building, she knew the lobby was empty. She could neither see nor hear any sign of alien life, and she led Adam to the elevator. Once more, she was silent as they traveled down the shaft, thinking to herself of the long elevator rides she had taken on her solo missions and how they were times she used to quietly reflect on her situation.

Once they reached the bottom, she stepped purposefully in front of Adam as the doors opened to reveal the base of the shaft and the hatch down to the bunker. As they walked out of the elevator, she put an arm out in front of the General and froze.

"There was a xenomorph here," she said quietly, focusing on taking in every aspect of her surroundings. "I can smell it."

"You can…  _smell_  it?"

Samus nodded. There was obviously nothing in the tiny chamber now, but she could detect signs of what had happened in there previously. "And there was a firefight. I can smell the gunfire… At least two types."

Adam stared expectantly at the mercenary. "Is that… normal?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. This is definitely part of the upgrade." As the General continued to stare at her, the mercenary turned to the hatch in the ground. "Guess it's time to get them out of there."

As the two of them walked over to the hatch and Samus knelt to open it, they realized that it was locked from the outside. Samus's heart rate sped up as she wondered what had happened. Her mind immediately jumped to Portia as she tried to sort out what motivation the doctor would have to lock them down there. She wondered if Portia had brought eggs down there and had trapped the others so they would be impregnated, and if that were the case, what she would find.

Without hesitation, the mercenary opened the hatch and shined her rifle's light inside the bunker. For a moment, nothing moved, but she could hear the quiet sounds of hushed breathing coming from within.

"Ripley?" she called. "Newt? Vasquez? Who's down there?"

No one responded, but the quiet sound of slow breathing continued, and she wondered if whoever was down there had lost consciousness. Not wasting a second, Samus climbed down the ladder into the bunker, searching for the source of the breathing as she stepped inside the dark steel room.

"Ripley?"

It did not take her long to hear the sudden shift in the breathing, and it was only by grace of her new senses that she was able to dodge out of the way in time as a fully-grown xenomorph lunged toward her. Samus jumped back into the bunker, barely avoiding the alien's claws as she opened fire on it.

"Adam, run!" she called up, hoping the General could hear her.

The creature screamed in its shrill double-mouthed way, and the cacophony of shrieks bounced off of the walls, creating a painful echo chamber.

Samus ignored the sounds as best she could while trying to aim at the alien, but it was fast, and her plasma rifle was nowhere near as fast as the plasma beam had been. For a creature so large and skeletal, the xenomorph could move preternaturally fast, and the mercenary found herself having to take more time to dodge its oncoming attacks than she could spend shooting at it as they began a sort of deadly dance through the deserted bunker. Every time Samus was able to fire off a shot, the creature had already changed directions, and its shiny black exoskeleton blended into the darkness.

As Samus's shots missed the xenomorph, most flew straight into the steel walls, superheating the metal room, and the bounty hunter could feel sweat running down her face. Without the varia suit, she had no protection from the heat. When she realized there was no way the battle in the small space could end well for her, she made a dash for the hatch, but her arm was met with a painful cut from the xenomorph's tail, forcing her backward as the alien rounded in on her and charged.

But Samus barely reacted to the pain, and as it rushed toward her, she took the opportunity to fire a burst of plasma straight into its face. The creature reared up and screamed, but it moved before the rifle could get out another shot. As Samus barely dodged the alien's next strike, her shot completely missed the creature, hitting a bunch of crates in the far corner and setting them on fire. As the crates and other supplies in the small room began going up in flames, the bunker filled with a thick, dark smoke.

Samus knew she would not survive long as the flames ate through the oxygen of the superheated room, but she could not see through the smoke where her enemy was. As the bounty hunter made another attempt for the hatch, she collided full force with one of the xenomorph's long, back arms. It easily threw her back into the burning bunker as though she were a toy, and the bounty hunter landed hard on her rifle.

Taking the opportunity, the xenomorph scrambled out of the hatch, leaving the hunter behind. It may not have needed oxygen the same way she did, but it could not take the rising temperature either. It had planned to run up the elevator shaft, but something caught its attention as it made its way out of the bunker.

"Lady?" a man's voice called out as it approached the opening in the ground.

Knowing the human male would not be able to see it through the billows of smoke rising through the opening, the creature rushed forward and swiped him hard across his midsection.

Adam did not have time to dodge the oncoming blow completey, and by the time he realized what was happening, he only had time to jump back as the creature threw him clear across the little room toward the base of the elevator. As pain shot through his body, the General tried to get up, propping himself up on one arm and scrambling to ready his rifle as the alien came toward him to deliver the death strike.

But the strike never came. From behind the xenomorph, he could hear a primal scream, and a small blur rushed out from behind it, planting itself firmly between the General and the charging xenomorph. As soon as he realized this new combatant was Samus, he saw her lunge forward into the charging xenomorph and make contact. With a scream of rage, the bounty hunter punched the alien across its hard, eyeless face, and the creature flew backward into a wall. As it was momentarily stunned, Samus responded by opening a shower of rapid-fire plasma shots into its body.

As it backed off and wailed in pain at the barrage of superheated blasts, Samus charged forward, forcing it back down toward the hatch. When it was standing close enough to the edge, the bounty hunter ceased her fire and simply whacked it as hard as she could with the butt of her rifle, throwing it back down into the bunker and sending a barrage of plasma down with it. Without hesitation, she slammed the hatch closed and locked it, trapping the creature within. She could hear its tortured screams as it burned to death in the inferno below.

As soon as she was finished with that, she turned her attention back to Adam. The General still lay on the ground, coughing at the smoke filling the room. He seemed stunned, but not badly hurt, and there was no visible blood. Samus did not even have time to think before he was in her arms and she carried him quickly into the elevator and hit the hologram to bring them back to the surface.

Once the doors of the elevator were closed, it was much less smoky than it had been at the base of the shaft, and she slowly let the General down and helped him to stand.

"Are you all right, Lady?" He asked as he leaned on her shoulder and tried to stabilize himself.

Samus didn't answer. She just looked at him and made a barely audible noise.

It was not until they were back up to the surface and standing in the lobby of the building that he attempted to speak to her again.

"Thank you for protecting me, Samus." He watched her as she looked around the room and seemed to be listening for something.

"It wasn't a problem," she replied tersely as she led him out of the building and back toward her ship. As she looked up at the ship and back toward the General, she seemed to make up her mind about something very quickly. Not bothering with the light platform, she simply scooped the man back up into her arms again and jumped to the top of her ship, setting him down beside the entry hatch.

Adam stared at his friend in shock, and he was quiet for a long minute as he studied her. There was an absolutely wild look in her eyes, and her whole body seemed tense and rigid. There was something distinctly inhuman about the way the mercenary carried herself as they descended into the medical bay and walked out into her living cabin.

"Samus," he began, but she cut him off with a glare.

"Cockpit," she shot back, ignoring the curious looks of Hector and Archer from the couch.

The General followed her quietly into the cockpit, locking the door behind him. "What's wrong, Samus?"

She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. After a few seconds, her fist flew out and punched a dent into one of the walls. Her whole body trembled in rage, and she seemed to be struggling to control herself as she stood with her fist in the wall.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "I'm just… I'm just really fucking angry."

"I can see that," he replied softly, but he did not approach her.

"I just punched a wall," she said in a dull monotone, more to herself than to him as she stared at her fist, still pressed into the dent.

"Yes," Adam said, slowly moving toward her and eventually placing a hand on her back. "You also punched a xenomorph earlier. It… certainly seems like your strength has returned."

Samus nodded slowly and closed her eyes as she felt his hand move gently across her back. "I wasn't expecting this rage… it just happened… It reminded me of when I was first corrupted by phazon and I had this… bloodlust developing."

"How are you doing now?"

Samus opened her eyes, assessing the damage to the wall and where blood from little cuts in her knuckles had started to eat away at the metal. It was not enough to do any real damage, but it was enough to catch her eye. "I don't know what's happening to me. I'm turning into one of those things… I screamed at one point and didn't even recognize the sound." She turned away from the wall, brushing Adam's hand off as she walked over to the pilot's chair and sat down. "Ripley and the others had already left the bunker. There's no telling where they are."

"Perhaps," Adam ventured slowly, unable to read his companion, "we should abort this mission and call in backup."

Samus shot him a glare. "From whom? For all we know, half the government is overrun with traitors who want you dead, and no other team has done well coming here. I'm finishing this mission. Period."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"I find people. That's what I do. I'll find Ripley's group." She input a set of coordinates and put the ship in gear. "But first we're going back to the Chozo mines."

"What?" Adam looked genuinely surprised.

"I'm going to find Silver Wing and have him fix my powersuit. This is bullshit, and I'm not leaving this moon until I either find Ripley's group or I find their bodies. And I'm not leaving without finding out if I can restore my powersuit. It's bad enough I'm losing my humanity. I'm not losing that too!"

The General watched her quietly as the ship took off and began its flight over to the Chozo ruins. "Lady, is that something you actually feel is happening? That you're losing your humanity?"

Samus shrugged as she stared out the forward window. "I don't know. I just know the past couple of days have brought a lot of changes, and a lot of the things I believed in and took for granted just weren't real. And now my body is changing, so could this alien blood be affecting my mind too? Is that why I flew into such a rage down there and punched a fucking xenomorph?"

Adam knelt beside her seat and placed his hand on her forearm. "I don't think you're losing your humanity, Samus. I think you just have an awful temper, and you're extremely frustrated right now so it's being set off more easily. I've known you enough years to know that you flying into a rage and punching things is by no means out of the ordinary."

Samus snorted and smiled half-heartedly. "So that's all it is, eh? My personality has always been this shitty?"

Adam laughed and shook his head. "That's not the word I would use to describe it, but you get the general idea. I think you just need some answers, and if heading back to see Silver Wing is what you think will help with all this and that you could restore the powersuit, then that's what you should do."

The bounty hunter nodded as she watched the mines come into view from her front window. "Thank you, Adam. I know it probably doesn't seem like much but knowing that you don't think I'm turning into a monster means a lot to me."

He smiled as he stood. "Anytime, Lady."

As the ship set down in the mines, Samus scanned the area for any signs of hostile life. When it looked clear as far as she could see, she stood up and picked up her rifle. Turning to the General, she smirked. "Time to get those answers."

 


	26. Down Once More

The cold metal of Samus's gun rubbed against Portia's skin as she walked. Hidden beneath her shirt, the firearm seemed to be taking on the same chill as the air, and she found herself wondering, more than once, if she would ever get the opportunity to pull it on anyone. But the stolen gun she secretly concealed was not the one at the forefront of the doctor's mind. Instead, it was the rifle pointed at her back with which she most concerned herself.

She was not one hundred percent certain where she was leading Ripley and the android, but she knew it was roughly where General Harper had briefed her on where they thought the xenomorph nest might be. Given that Ripley had threatened to kill her if she took them to the wrong place, she hoped the General's deductions were accurate. There was no way to know that until they got there.

As they walked in silence through the desolation of the crumbling colony, Portia thought back to her experiment, namely the xenomorph with which she had impregnated Samus Aran. It should have emerged by now assuming it needed to incubate in her the same amount of time it needed to incubate in a human. Samus was likely long dead between the wounds from her battle, the stab wound, and the xenomorph breaking through her chest. She was not sure exactly how strong the bounty hunter had been, but she hoped she had lived at least long enough to allow the creature to gestate properly. It would be a shame to waste such a unique specimen and not even get a bioweapon out of it.

There was a part of her, however, that did feel bad about violating and murdering the bounty hunter. When they had spoken down in the bunker, she had not seemed like an unreasonable being. In fact, she had seemed almost human back there. Even when Portia had found her bleeding out in the Metroid lab, the mercenary had seemed very human, almost as though she were a real human.

The doctor did not consider herself a human supremacist by any means, and she didn't have much of an issue with most of the common types of semi-humans in the galaxy. A creature like Samus Aran, however, was not truly a human being, in her opinion. She was a weaponized hybrid, and her services could be bought and paid for. Unlike a soldier, she had no loyalty to anyone, and losing her would be no real loss to anyone aside from the highest bidders. Still, there was a part of her that felt guilt creeping through it.

Portia walked more quickly as they neared where the nest was supposed to be. She tried the best she could to ignore Ripley and Bishop behind her. If she wanted to make an escape, the only one she would have to shoot was Ripley since the android was likely programmed not to be able to hurt humans. However, she knew she would not get an opening to do that, and if she got any chance at all, she just needed to run. She had never been any good with a gun.

Her creation was out there somewhere. On this moon, in some form or another, there was a xenomorph with the DNA of the great bounty hunter Samus Aran, and Portia knew she wanted to see this creature for herself. She also knew she had to get back to the radio in the cockpit of the destroyed  _Kitty Hawk_ she and the General had crash-landed in. All she had to do was enter the right code into the seemingly broken radio and it would call in her extraction. Then she could give the information to General Harper about the deaths of Samus Aran, General Malkovich, and Samus's son, as well as the existence of her new perfect bioweapon. She was not sure how Harper would be able to get the new hybrid xenomorph off of the planet now that it was likely no longer within Samus's body. It would probably hit maturity quickly, and the General would be forced to try to extract a fully-grown xenomorph. But that was not Portia's problem. She did not care how they got the creature or what they did with it. She just wanted to know she had created it.

There had been other creatures she had created over the years, creatures she had worked on in secret aboard the Ceres Station. When they had gotten their hands on an infant Metroid a few months back, she and many of the other scientists had been thrilled. There was limitless potential to what they could do with a creature like that. Portia herself had been tasked with bringing a cell culture from the larva over to their subsidiary corporation, Biologic. When she been ready to return to Ceres, however, it was only to learn that the space station was no more. Space Pirates had raided it in order to steal the infant Metroid. All of her creations and everyone on board had been killed.

Except for one person. The one who had brought that accursed Metroid onto the station in the first place. Samus Aran.

It felt like an oddly satisfying poetic justice that in the end, she had murdered Samus in order to create the ultimate bioweapon, her Magnum Opus. Samus Aran might have destroyed her life's work, gotten everyone she knew killed, and nearly destroyed this mission to LV-426, but in the end, the timing of the bounty hunter's arrival could not have been more serendipitous. Now, instead of simply bringing back a xenomorph larva cryogenically frozen in the chest of the General, she could tell General Harper that there was an entirely new creature, one that would put even the Metroids to shame.

The doctor stopped walking as they came upon a dilapidated, single story, gray building. It did not look any more remarkable than the rest of the desolate landscape, but Portia could see the trails of clear slime glistening in paths to its entrance. The door had been torn clean off of the hinges, and all of the windows had been broken from the inside. It looked similar to one of the buildings that led out to the mines, but Portia knew it did not go down to the Chozo Ruins. This building also contained an elevator shaft, but one that went much deeper than the ones in the mines or the one down to the bunker.

"If our calculations were correct," the doctor began, feeling the nose of the rifle pressed squarely into her back, "this building should contain a shaft that leads down to the xenomorph hive."

"How sure are you of your calculations?" Ripley asked from behind her as the flight officer stared at the building. The sun was beginning to set once more, and it cast its sickly orange glow over everything in sight.

"Not one hundred percent, but it's our best bet." The doctor did not bother to turn and face the other woman. "You're welcome to go find out though."

Ripley paused for a moment as she thought over her next move. She stood with the gun to Portia's back for a few moments as she weighed the likelihood that the doctor was telling the truth and tried to figure out the best method of attack.

"Bishop," the flight officer called after a little bit. "I'm going in. Don't let Dr. Grey out of your sight."

Portia could feel the gun move away from her back as Ripley walked toward the building, leaving the doctor and the android in her wake. She had a determined look on her face, and she was heavily armed between the pulse rifle and the flamethrower. However, as she got closer to the entrance, she stopped and bent over to pick something metallic up from the ground. Turning it over in her hands, the flight officer immediately recognized the handgun.

"This was the gun Newt was carrying," Ripley said as she turned to look back toward Bishop and Portia. The gun itself was thick with alien slime, and it left a cold feeling in the flight officer's stomach. Holstering the gun to her hip, Ripley turned back to her task as though she had never been interrupted. She carried her rifle in front of her, poised to fire at anything that should come her way.

Portia was silent as she and Bishop watched the flight officer disappear into the dark building. They waited for a long time as they watched the entrance through which Ripley had gone, and Portia was all too aware of the handgun the android had pointed at her head. Still, she doubted he intended to use it, much less that he even could use it against a human.

Once she was certain Ripley had been gone long enough that she was too far to hear them, Portia pulled Samus's gun from beneath her shirt. Before the android could even react, she spun around and pulled the trigger.

The gun went off with an explosive burst, and as the blast of energy flew toward the android and hit its mark, it exploded on contact. With an eruption unlike anything she had ever seen from a handgun, Bishop's head flew clean off of his body and rolled several feet away as white liquid and wires spilled forth from the wound. Portia took only an instant to stare in shock as the android's severed head stared back at her, its body blindly crawling around and searching for the severed head several meters away.

"Portia," the normally even voice of Bishop called out to her through gurgling gasps. "Portia Grey…"

But the doctor had seen enough, and she held the gun up once more and fired blindly in the general direction of the android's remains as she turned and ran away. She ran as far as she could as quickly as she could, watching the sunset and knowing she was in a race against time. She knew she has to get back to the cockpit of the deserted ship, but even more than that, she knew she needed to see her creation, her Magnum Opus in the flesh.

So she ran into the night, running straight for the nearest entrance to the Chozo Ruins.

* * *

It was nearly dark by the time Samus's ship touched down at the mines. The bounty hunter sat in her pilot's chair as she landed gracefully on the surface. It felt like déja vu, landing somewhere on this moon, trying to accomplish something. But each attempt to save people had only led to greater catastrophe, and she was starting to think the longer she stuck around, the less she would come away from it with. She had already lost track of most of the survivors and lost the suit that had been a part of her body for the past thirty years.

To say she felt naked was an understatement. It felt more like she had lost an entire limb and was now trying to crawl through this hell-scape crippled and bleeding out, never sure where an enemy might be hiding or how they might attack her next. Vulnerable did not begin to cover how she felt as she looked out over the mines and her heart began to race. She saw flashes of her battle there only a few days ago, flashes of the xenomorph swarm that had enveloped her as she fought them off to protect Ripley. She could feel her skin burning where the acidic blood had eaten through her powersuit and their claws had met with her flesh.

And just below the surface were the Chozo Ruins where she had been torn apart by the Omega Metroid and stabbed in the back by someone she had turned to for help in a moment of desperation. And then she had awakened cold, wet, and weak at the feet of the creature that had resurrected her from the dead. The same creature that had experimented on her for most of her early life and shaped her into the barely human weapon she was now.

But she was not a child anymore, and she had recovered her strength since that last battle. Still, her heart pounded and she could feel her chest constricting as she looked at the world outside of her forward window. There was a part of her that wanted to just fly the ship straight off of LV-426 and never look back to this awful place, but she was Samus Aran, and as long as she could still fight, running would never be an option.

"Lady?" Adam's voice called from behind her. She must have looked pale or upset as she looked back at him because she could see the concern in his gray eyes. "Is everything all right, Samus?"

"No," she whispered, sitting back in her seat as he came and knelt beside her. Under any other circumstances, she would have lied and said everything was fine. It was different now as she sat alone with the General. "I know what I need to do I just… I guess I'm just feeling overwhelmed."

"You're pale as a ghost," he said, pressing a couple of fingers to her wrist, "and your heart's racing."

The bounty hunter nodded, looking out the window and still seeing flashes of the xenomorph swarm from earlier. "I guess being killed was just a little more traumatizing than I realized. Just give me a minute. I'll be okay."

Adam regarded his friend seriously. "You don't have to do this, you know. We can get back to Keaton and the rest of his people, and he'll send in someone else to search for any sign of Ripley and Newt."

Samus shook her head. "No one else should be called to this shithole of a moon. No one else needs to die. Besides, this is a Chozo colony. It's my people and my legacy, and if anyone needs to take responsibility for that, it's me. And I need to confront Silver Wing again. He's the only one who would know how to restore my powersuit."

"I know I can't talk you out of this, but please be careful."

"I will." She frowned. "Feeling all too aware of my own mortality right about now." She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and stood up. "I need to get going. It's almost dark, and I know I don't want to be out in those mines once the sun goes all the way down."

Adam nodded as he also stood. "Do you want me to come with you?"

The mercenary shook her head. "Stay here with the boy. Make sure he's okay while I'm gone, and if I don't come back, make the judgment call to get the hell off this moon. I know you can do it." Pausing for a moment, her hand hovered above the discarded remains of the powersuit on her dash. As she picked it up, it felt cold and hollow in her hand, and a deep mourning filled her as she stored it safely in a zippered bag.

The General didn't say anything as he followed his friend into her living cabin. He knew the odds of her returning alive were slim, and the odds of her returning with the powersuit were nearly non-existent. Even so, this was her battle, and she needed to fight it, and nothing he could say or do would change that.

Hector jumped up from the couch as his mother entered the room. He stood a respectful distance away until she looked at him and nodded that he could approach.

"I'm leaving," she said to him in a soft monotone. "Stay on this ship. No matter what happens or what you see, stay on this ship. And if Adam says it's time to go, you take this ship and fly it as far out into space as you can and have him call the Chairman."

"Where are you going?" he asked, noting that the mercenary was armed to the teeth, multiple handguns holstered about her person as well as a high-powered rifle strapped to her back.

"I'm going back down into the mines, back to where you and Adam came to rescue me while I was dead. I'm going to talk to the Chozo and try to get my powersuit back. I don't expect to succeed, but if I have any shot at getting it back, this is it."

Hector stared quietly at Samus for a moment. There was an unspoken understanding between them, and as always when they parted, the boy found himself wondering if this would be the last time he ever saw the space mercenary. In the short time he had known her, he had quickly picked up on the fact that caring about her was going to be an exercise in emotional exhaustion, and as she stared back at him through her scarred face and frighteningly green eyes, he knew it would also be an exercise in dealing with his fears.

"Please," he said, knowing which word he wanted to say, one he had never been able to utter when addressing the mercenary. "Please, just come home soon… Samus."

She smiled sadly and ruffled the boy's hair. "Not even death has been able to stop me so far. I'll come home. Don't worry about me." She pulled him into an embrace and kissed her forehead. "But in case I don't, just know I love you. And listen to your dad, and tell him I'm sorry from bringing you out here. I never meant to hurt any of you."

The boy pressed himself tighter into her embrace, even as her weapons jabbed into his side. "I'll tell him you said that. But… still try to come back anyway. I'm sorry I ran off the ship earlier and got you killed by Metroids. I'll stay here this time. I promise. I'm sorry I messed everything up so bad, and I love you too… Mom."

Samus's eyes snapped open as she looked down at her son. She held him for a long minute before pulling away slowly and studying his face. There were no words left now, nothing she could say as she picked up her plasma rifle from the ground and felt its familiar warmth in her hands. The warm gun was hardly a replacement for a warm body, but she knew she had to tear herself away from the scene before her. Without another word, Samus turned and walked into the medical bay, Adam following close behind her.

As the door closed and Hector was out of earshot, she turned to the General. "Thank you, Adam. Thank you for looking out for him. I feel better about this knowing you're here."

The General smiled. "It's no problem at all, Lady. You just be safe and let your mind be at ease. I'll look out for him and won't let anything happen to him."

Samus nodded distractedly, her mind clearly somewhere else. "I… really thought I had lost you both earlier this mission. I can't afford that. You and Hector… you're the only two people I've ever had in my life that I don't think I could live without. I need you both to be safe… heh. I suck with words. I'm no poet, but to paraphrase someone else, before I met you, the only thing I'd learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew me… You were different though. You never tried to hurt me, and no one used you to hurt me… so thank you, Adam. For everything."

"You say that like this is good bye, Lady."

She sighed. "I guess I do."

He gently pulled her into an embrace despite the plasma rifle jabbing him in his bruised abdomen. "Come back safe and quickly. That's an order. The Federation needs you alive and on duty, Samus."

The bounty hunter pushed him away from her with a devilish smirk. "Adam Malkovich, since when do you think ordering my stubborn ass around is any way to get me to do what you want?"

He winced as pain shot through his midsection. "Probably not my best call."

She smiled softly at him as she cocked her rifle. "Just this once though, I'll consider following that order… but don't get used to it."

The General chuckled softly, not letting her see the way it hurt to do so. "I'll keep that in mind, Lady."

With one last look around the medical bay, the bounty hunter turned toward the hatch in the ceiling of the ship. Within seconds she was gone as it closed behind her, leaving the General alone in the dark room as she set off to confront the Chozo and her past once and for all.

 


	27. The Chozo's Legacy

Samus landed gracefully on her feet despite the plasma rifle in her arms and the other heavy rifle strapped to her back. Jumping on and off of her ship was second nature to her, and now that she no longer had Adam or Hector slowing her down, she could move as quickly and freely as she wanted. Though there was still a bit of soreness from her ordeal, she felt far better than she had when she and Adam had gone to check the bunker, and she decided to blame that on the adrenaline rush she had gotten from facing the xenomorph during that expedition.

The mines were quiet and dark, but they reeked of the stench of xenomorphs. She could still smell the presence of the swarm even though she thought it had been a couple of days since that battle. She was not actually sure how long it had been. Between her death and sleeping for as long as she had, she had no idea how much time had passed. Perhaps she should not have been surprised Ripley's group was no longer in the bunker when she had gone to look for them.

The bounty hunter moved quickly but cautiously through the mines, taking cover behind any large objects she could find and keeping her rifle constantly locked, loaded, and at the ready. Her enhanced hearing helped her feel better about the situation since it would be a lot harder for anything to sneak up on her, but she still felt vulnerable without her armor. The black bodysuit did not offer much in the way of protection, although it did help a bit. Still, compared to the powersuit, she might as well have been running around in a bikini and boots.

She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and the cold night air against her face felt raw and damp. The body suit protected her skin from the elements though so at least she did not feel the cold elsewhere. It was also easier to breath now than it had been when she had first arrived on this moon. Perhaps the frightening upgrades to her body had finally healed the injuries her lungs had suffered in her battles on Earth. That would be the only silver lining in this whole mess.

The warmth of the plasma rifle radiated through her hands, warming her body as she peeked out from behind a crane she had used for cover. She did not hear any other creatures nearby, just the low hum of her ship in the distance. The scent of xenomorph in the air still kept her on high alert even though it was a couple of days old. She thought she could even smell her own dried blood from the battle but wondered if that was just in her head. As fast as her heart was pumping adrenaline through her veins, she would not have been surprised if she were hallucinating that smell simply because of how fresh that battle was in her mind. In a way, she could still feel it happening around her and had to constantly work to keep herself grounded in what she actually could see and hear now so as not to let her mind slip back to that fight.

It took her much longer than it should have to reach the entrance down to the Chozo Ruins, but she had been moving so cautiously, it had slowed her considerably. It was going to be a long trip down to the depths to find Silver Wing, and there was no way she could sacrifice vigilance in favor of speed. Without her powersuit, she could not afford to take any hits, and there were Metroids down there in addition to all of the nasty beasts on the moon's surface.

It occurred to her suddenly that aside from those preserved in Lab IX, she had not encountered any xenomorphs during her time in the Chozo Ruins and wished she had thought to ask Adam and Hector about their experiences with that. The fact that they were both alive most likely meant that they had not had any run-ins with the nasty creatures. She thought briefly of calling them on her ship and asking, but she was too focused on the immediacy of what was around her and breaking that concentration could be a costly mistake.

She was about to go through the door that led to the elevator shaft when she heard a noise in the distance. Her heart raced as she whirled around to face it, finger heavy on the trigger of her rifle. She fired a shot before she could see anything, and it flew out into the distance, exploding on a large rock. Back pressed up against the wall, she searched madly for the source of the noise, her heart pounding as she looked wildly back and forth over the empty mines. Whatever she had heard was likely just a loose stone tumbling off into one of the pits, but her imagination contorted it.

Clutching onto the rifle like life itself and breathing heavily, she pushed her back further into the wall, ready to fire on a hairpin trigger. Flashes of the xenomorph swarm stampeding into the valley filled her vision, and for a moment she could not tell if it were actually happening or merely a memory. Panic filled her and she pointed the gun in all directions, remembering the battle all too clearly. Her breathing was rapid, and her chest constricted painfully. She could feel herself shaking as her senses were overcome with the scent of the aliens.

But there was nothing there, not a single life form anywhere near her in the dark valley. Still, she felt herself surrounded by the rushing swarm, the ghosts of memories flooding her view. She fired several more times as images of the xenomorphs flashed across her vision, but each time, the blasts flew toward nothing and exploded against inanimate objects.

It took the bounty hunter several minutes to realize she was in such an intense fight or flight mode that the things she was seeing were only distant memories. Her breathing was close to hyperventilation, and her heartbeat drummed rapidly and thunderously in her throat. She tried to slow her breathing, consciously trying to take long, deep breaths as she looked around her, listening for any hostile organisms. She tired to focus on the low hum of the ship in the background and the feeling of her back against the cold wall. Anything to try to ground herself.

After a while, she became aware of what was happening in her mind, but it was like waking from an intense dream and not knowing what had actually happened and what hadn't. She realized right away that she was having a flashback again, but even though she knew that was happening, it was still difficult to bring herself down from it. The stench of alien didn't help matters any.

Still breathing heavily, she let herself slip down the wall and sit with her rifle still at the ready but partially resting on one of her legs. She needed a minute to compose herself.

_Get it together,_  she mentally scolded herself.  _You're a professional. You can't go and lose your nerve now. Your enemies can smell weakness, and if you give them an opening, they will use it to tear you apart._ Aware though she was, it took a long time to stabilize her breathing and heart rate.  _It's bad enough you went and lost your powersuit, but you can't afford to have your brain misfiring on top of that._

Samus did not move for a few minutes. Instead, she took a moment to clear her mind and practice some of the meditation methods she had learned amongst the Chozo so many years ago. Since the incident on Zebes, she had been trying to retrain herself to meditate on a regular basis to try to get back to center when she found herself off balance as she was now. She did not have time to do a proper meditation, but she took time to get her breathing to a more normal rate and slow her heart so it was no longer beating dangerously fast. Her blood pressure was probably considerably higher than it should have been, and she knew that was something Adam would normally chastise her for neglecting to treat. At the same time, she wondered what her blood pressure even was supposed to be now that her blood was acidic and alien.

The thought made her skin crawl as it always did whenever she would remember her changed biology. It seemed to hit her in waves. Shaking it from her mind, Samus stood back up. She was still feeling a bit shaken from her episode, but she did not have all night to hang out in the mining valley and be a sitting duck for any xenomorphs that might come by. She wondered if Adam could see her from the ship or if her had noticed the shots from her rifle. He must have noticed the shots at least, and he was probably wondering why she had not gone into the ruins yet.

Composing herself, she straightened up and turned to the door down to the elevator shaft. With a deep breath, she shot it open and stepped into the dirt room. Walking quickly, she made her way to the elevator and hit the hologram as the doors closed behind her. It was not a long trip down to the ruins, but she took another moment to attempt to center herself. She was not sure what was causing her to be more on edge: the loss of her powersuit or the trauma of knowing she had been defeated and died here.

She knew she suffered from a pretty severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder, so it was not surprising that her death was having this kind of effect on her. The strange part was that her PTSD did not normally manifest itself in exploration or combat situations like this, and when it did, it was usually more in the form of a violent rage against whatever she was fighting. This feeling, this fear for her life and feeling like she was under assault by creatures from her memory, was unusual. It happened, but normally only after her mission was long done and she was trying to power down into civilian mode, something that had become increasingly difficult over the years.

There was a part of her she did not want to acknowledge that wondered if the episode had something to do with her alien blood, but she quickly crushed those thoughts.

As the elevator came to a stop, she stepped out into a familiar looking hallway, one built of yellow sandstone blocks with images of Chozo figures and writings. Part of her wanted to stop and read the walls. She recognized the writings immediately as a fable about the band of Chozo who had flown too close to the flaming mountains of the planet Magmoor and had their wings burned clean off. Legend held they were the first of the flightless Chozo and all modern Chozo were their decedents. Now Samus found herself wondering if the Chozo had ever actually been able to fly at all. After all, she was supposed to be their great galactic defender, and they had never given her the gift of flight unless she counted the space jump, but that was awkward and limited.

And now she didn't even have that.

She traversed the halls slowly, listening intently to the world around her as she went. Unlike the last time she was down here, she could hear the hum of power coursing through the blast shields of the various doors, and for the first time she realized that different color doors sounded different. She did not concern herself with most of the doors though. She knew where she was going, and she was making a beeline straight for Lab IX.

While she walked cautiously, the trip still went a lot faster than her trip out of the ruins had gone when she was leaning on Adam and constantly having to stop and rest. In retrospect, it was amazing she had made it out of here at all given the condition she was in. It gave her a small boost of confidence to realize that if she could have made it through here and survived with as broken as she had been then, getting to Lab IX now would be a breeze. She tried to keep that in perspective as she continued down the halls.

When she finally made it to the notorious lab, she saw the familiar hole in the wall through which they had to crawl to gain access. Bracing herself, she got on her hands and knees, listening intently to make sure nothing would surprise her on the other side of that wall. As a precaution, she kept her plasma rifle pointed forward so she could take out anything that tried to ambush her. But nothing tried to attack her, and getting into the lab was easy enough, far easier than it had been the other times she crawled through the hole.

The lab itself looked the same as it had the last time she had come through. There was still a charred pile of twisted metal where the computer terminals had once been, and the creepy xenomorphs in the stasis tubes still slept. The only difference now was that Samus could hear their slow, shallow breathing as they slumbered. It was eerie.

But xenomorphs were something she could deal with, even without her powersuit. The real danger was in the next room over. She knew she had killed the Metroids that had attacked her before she had died, but she could not help but wonder if Silver Wing had restocked their supply since then. If she recalled correctly, there had even been a larval Metroid in one of the tubes that had not been able to break out, and she had not exactly been in any condition to bust it out and kill it once she got done with the Omega Metroid.

She braced herself for the worst as she shot through the door on the back wall and stepped into the Metroid lab, but to her relief, there were no new critters in there. That was not to say the room was pleasant to enter by any means. Metroid entrails still lay rotting on the ground, and the stench of their decomposition was unbearable. A little ways away, Samus could see the dried pool of blood where she had lay dying. The whole thing was so surreal she felt like a ghost looking over the last moments of her life. She almost didn't notice the larval Metroid still floating in one of the tubes. After a moment, she acknowledged it as it tried feebly to bust its way through the heavily reinforced glass, but try as it might, it lacked the strength of its mature counterparts. Samus did not bother breaking the glass to free and kill it.

She wondered why the Chozo were still bothering to experiment with Metroids at this point. Supposedly they had served some purpose on SR-388, but she had no idea what that was. Perhaps she should have paid more attention to her "cousins" when she was growing up, but they had never interested her. She had never thought they would end up becoming her mortal enemies and began to wonder if exterminating them was going to throw something out of whack on SR-388 now. Hopefully she would never have to figure out what that was.

Ignoring the gory scene at her feet, she walked over to the back wall and scanned her palm on the Chozo palm scanner. It was so odd to think her son had been able to activate it as well. The one sense of comfort she had felt at having a child was the knowledge that he would never have to know what it meant to be an unnatural genetic anomaly. Now she wondered if his unusual origins would have any adverse impact on his life as he became an adult.

The air in the earthen hallways was cooler and damper than it had been in the lab, but Samus ignored it. She had picked up her pace a while back now that she was reasonably certain she would not run into any xenomorphs. After all, this area was only accessible to Chozo, and there were very likely more Chozo still living here.

When she reached the antechamber with the three doors, she stored her plasma rifle on her back with the other one and went through the door marked with her powersuit's infamous symbol: an "S" shaped lightning bolt going through a circle. She braced herself as she stepping into the lab in which she had been resurrected, not sure what to expect when she went in. Predictably, the massive biosphere was still in the middle of the room, growing out of the ceiling and floor like a living organism. Just as she had though he might, Silver Wing stood beside it, watching as she entered the lab.

" _I see you've returned_ ," he said in Chozo as he looked the bounty hunter up and down. The old Chozo was still clad in his long brown robes, and his bulging black eyes stared back at her emptily.

" _You know what I've come here for_ ," Samus replied in the language of her childhood, keeping her voice level despite her mixed feelings of seeing the Chozo. Part of her wanted to run out of the lab as fast as she could, but another part of her wanted to bash in his face until it was bloody. She knew she needed his help if she wanted her suit back, however, even if that meant submitting herself to be experimented on again.

Silver nodded, staying where he was. " _As I predicted you would. It didn't react for you, did it? And now you've come here to see if I can restore your powersuit._ "

Samus didn't respond to his comment. It wasn't a question.

" _Very well_ ," the old Chozo continued. " _Give it to me_."

The bounty hunter eyed him warily as she removed her suit from the zippered pouch on her belt and walked toward him. She handed it to him without hesitation and pulled her hand back quickly, careful not to let their fingers touch.

Silver held the suit in his feathery hand and stared at it, turning it over a few times. " _It is salvageable, you know. The question is whether or not it's worth returning it to you."_

Samus blinked a few times but reined in her temper. " _And if not me, who else would you get to bare your legacy?_ "

The old bird looked at her scornfully. " _You weren't the first, Hatchling. I don't know if you thought you would be the last, but don't be so arrogant. You've served your purpose. The Space Pirates are no longer a threat. Why don't you just go live out whatever comfy life your General friend thought you might have if you were no longer in service to us?"_

The bounty hunter stared back at him, her anger welling up quickly inside of her. "Comfy life?" she yelled back, no longer speaking in Chozo. "You think I can just drop my role as the galaxy's Protector now and go build a life for myself after all these years? How could I do that? Do you not see what I am? What you did to me? What you turned me into as a child and what your resurrected me as now? I'm your Frankenstein monster! A fucking hodge podge of pieces of different dead creatures starting with that human girl you found on K-2L!"

Silver stared back at her, not amused. "And why should I give such a creature access to one of our greatest weapons?"

"I killed the Space Pirates for you, didn't I? I took out Mother Brain! I went on and fulfilled whatever stupid destiny you needed me to fulfill, and I was faithful to you for thirty years!"

"Mere decades," the Chozo scoffed, "are nothing to those of us who have lived for centuries. And you only make my point. You've already served your purpose. We have no more use for you. Whatever you might want the powersuit for now is of no concern to us. I saved your life. I owe you nothing else."

Before she realized what she was doing, Samus had drawn one of her handguns and stepped up on the Chozo, pointing it directly at his head. "There are people counting on me to save their lives. Either you restore my suit, or I will fucking kill you! You wanted a walking weapon? Well you got one! I gave my life to the Chozo and sacrificed everything to be your savior. You can't just tell me you're done with me and turn me away. If that were really the case, you should have just let me stay dead rather than let me find out that every fight I've been in and every sacrifice I've made has been for a lie!"

Silver stared at Samus, his face twisting in an ugly sort of rage. "You idiot," he mumbled as the bounty hunter suddenly felt her body being lifted off the floor. She stared at him in shock as she found herself floating in the air, not held up by any visible force, and completely unable to move her body. The Chozo's eyes glowed black as he stared at her, keeping her floating and frozen in the air as if through some psychic force. "If you killed me, you still wouldn't have anyone to restore your suit to you. None of the other Chozo in this colony would give you the time of day. There's a reason we withdrew from the galaxy and didn't tell you where we went. We have no interest in getting mixed up into the legacy of you and the rest of those fools on Zebes."

Without so much as a blink of his eyes, the old Chozo sent Samus flying across the room and slammed her body hard into a wall. Samus tumbled to the ground with a gasp and stared back at Silver in shock.

_"Pathetic,"_  the Chozo sneered as he watched her stand. " _This is the creature Old Bird entrusted with our legacy. It was subpar when we found it, and it is subpar now."_

With a growl of anger, Samus fired off a shot from her gun straight at the Chozo's head, but she was shocked as it froze in the air and came flying back at her. She barely had enough time to dodge before it exploded where she had been standing only a moment before. She looked back at Silver, at a loss for words as she realized he was floating a couple of feet above the ground now, suspended in a strange dark light.

_"_ _You want the powersuit back so badly you're willing to kill for it, eh?"_ he asked as she held her gun pointed at him.  _"Could this have to do with protecting that child of yours you thought I didn't know about? Fine. I'll return our suit to you, but first you're going have to fight for it and prove you aren't the worthless weakling Mother and I tried to tell Old Bird and those other fools you were back when they decided to entrust a human child with our great legacy."_


	28. Protector of the Galaxy

"What the hell?" Samus stared at the Chozo floating before her, enveloped in his dark light. She held her gun steadily pointed toward his head, not sure it would provide her any protection at all. Up until now, she had never seen a Chozo use their psychokinetic abilities for any combat-related purpose. She had not even realized how strong they were until Silver had thrown her across the room. "You and Mother Brain tried to talk Old Bird and the others out of using me? Were you and Mother in cahoots about anything else?"

_"We had our disagreements with the way the Zebesian settlement handled your development,"_ he replied, staring down at her with his empty black eyes.  _"There was always a faction amongst us who believed the Varia Suit should have gone to a real Chozo, but a quorum of the Council of Elders selected you after they saw how easily Grey Voice and I manipulated your genetic coding. While I was content with simply harvesting the data of that experiment and releasing you back to your kind, another on the Council suggested you might be further engineered such that you could wear our remaining Varia Suit since we had lost that ability long ago due to our aging population and loss of reproductive capability._

_"Mother and I vehemently disagreed with them, believing we could use the data we collected while working on you to create a way to rejuvenate our own aging species so that one of our own could use the armor rather than entrust it to an outsider. The divide over the future of our legacy led several of us to split from the Zebesian settlement and join with the few who fled Tallon IV to establish a colony here on Acheron. Here we sought to continue our bioweapons research and find a way to restore our species._

_"Here we were able to continue with our development of Metroid unregulated by the Council of Elders, though we kept an open trade relationship with Zebes, selling them Metroid prototypes and assisting in your development. When they ultimately fell to the Pirates, we remained safe here underground."_

Samus did not respond right away, taking a moment to process what the Chozo said. Her gun never shifted, remaining pointed at his head. "I don't care about your Chozo politics from thirty years ago or what you wanted to do with the powersuit. I don't know what you still want Metroid for, and I don't care. I just know that I'm getting my suit back because there are still people I need to protect."

_"Including your child."_  Silver watched her face contort in fury at his mention of her son.  _"Did you think I was unaware of its existence? I built you."_

"What do you want with him?" Samus growled, her fingers itching to pull the trigger. "You stay the hell away from my son."

_"Are you going to pull the trigger or not?"_

"I don't want to fight you," Samus said through gritted teeth. "I will if you make me, but I considered you family once, and I don't want to throw that away."

Silver's eyes twitched again as the bounty hunter felt her whole body being lifted up and thrown across the room once more. As she hit the wall, she felt her hand release as the handgun went flying away from her. She hissed as she tumbled to the floor and looked up at the Chozo.

_"Pathetic,"_  Silver scoffed as he looked down on her.

The bounty hunter jumped to her feet quickly, drawing two more handguns as she did so and firing them both at the Chozo without hesitation. Her movements were so fast they were almost impossible to see, but just as before, the blasts from the guns froze in midair. She tried to dodge as the energy pulse shots came flying back at her, but unlike earlier, these blasts seemed to follow her. Jumping out of the way, she narrowly avoided the attack grazing where she had stood, only for both blasts to turn at the last minute and slam full force into her chest. The impact threw her backward as the shots exploded, and Samus landed heavily on her back.

_"It makes me wonder,"_  Silver said as he floated closer to where she lay,  _"how you ever defeated Mother or unlocked the Legendary Powersuit on Zebes. But I suppose in your case, the weapons make the warrior, and without them, you're nothing but the scrawny human child who couldn't even move as she watched the Space Pirates slaughter the Chozo and take Zebes."_

Samus could feel some invisible psychic force holding her down, pressing heavily on her chest, limbs and throat. Against her will, her hands opened and her weapons flew out of them.

"Fuck you," she muttered, even through her ragged breathing as the force choked her out. She knew she still had three more handguns in addition to the two rifles on her back, but she doubted they would do much good. Steam rose in small wisps from where her blood burned the ground.

Suddenly she felt her whole body jerk forward as she sat up and lunged forward onto her knees. Unable to control so much as a finger, the bounty hunter found herself on her knees in front of the floating Chozo.

_"Are you even fighting back?"_ he asked as Samus stared up at him, completely paralyzed.  _"I was hoping not to have to end this so soon. I thought my creation would have shown a higher mental fortitude, but it seems Old Bird's hopes truly were misplaced."_

Completely bound by the psychic force, Samus's arm reached down to her side and pulled a gun from her thigh holster. The bounty hunter could only stare helplessly as her arm brought the gun up closer and aimed it at her own head. She could feel her heart racing as the cold metal pressed up against her temple despite her efforts to take back control of her arm. It was as though the Chozo's will had completely overpowered her own as he usurped her mind and took control of her body. She could feel sweat running down her forehead, mingling with her acidic blood as it dripped down and burned small holes in the ground.

_"Now do you finally understand, Hatchling?"_

Samus couldn't speak as her heart raced, and her breath came too rapidly. Her eyes grew wide as adrenaline coursed through her, but all she could feel was the heavy invisible force holding her in place, manipulating her as it pleased as she knelt with a gun to her head, waiting for the moment he would force her to pull the trigger. Within seconds, her remaining weapons detached themselves from her back and holsters and flew off in multiple directions, well out of reach, leaving her with only the one pointed at her head.

It was only a matter of time before he would force her to pull the trigger, but her mind was going wild as flashes of her past raced across her vision. The long hours being tied down and experimented on as they tried to build a better bioweapon. Her own fear crushing her as she found herself frozen in front of Ridley as a child and teenager. She even saw a flash of the full body of Mother Brain approaching her as she had knelt in a dying powersuit, waiting for Mother to finish her off before the giant larval Metroid had come to save her life. And finally the memory of how she had laid helpless as Portia released the facehugger.

There had been too many times in her life she had found herself completely at the mercy of another, but every time it happened, she swore it never would again. As she stared up at Silver, still holding her own gun to her head, she didn't feel afraid in the slightest. She may have been helpless, but she was far from broken. As the impulse came to pull the trigger, she fought against it with all she was worth and held her finger back, staring defiantly up at the Chozo as she did so. Her face contorted like an animal's as she stared Silver down, fighting his powers with all she had, lips furling back into a snarl.

She knew she could not hold him in a deadlock forever and that he would eventually pull the trigger himself if he couldn't force her hand to do it. She could only fight his power over her own body, but that was all she needed. As she felt her grip on her own finger slipping, she used every bit of strength she could muster to twist her wrist just enough so that when her finger finally slipped and pulled the trigger, the gun shot away from her head and straight into the old Chozo.

As the blast hit him, Silver flew backward, temporarily weakening his psychic hold on Samus as she stood and aimed at him once more. She barely had time to pull the trigger, however, when the Chozo recovered and caught the blast from her gun midair. He sent it flying back at her but lacked the subtle control he had exhibited earlier so the nimble bounty hunter was able to dodge. What she had not expected, however, was the shot that hit her squarely in the back, causing her to fly forward and fall flat on her face.

Not missing a beat, Samus rolled to the side and leapt to her feet just as another shot landed where she had lay. She had just enough time to use the gun still in her hand to shoot down another blast as she realized she was surrounded by the seven guns Silver had taken from her, and they all sat suspended in the air, pointing directly at her.

"Give me a fucking break," she muttered as she snapped her own gun in half, rendering it useless as she began to dodge the weapons firing at her from all directions. It was an acrobatic performance that had her pivoting to all angles, ducking, rolling, leaping, and flipping just to avoid being hit. But she knew she could not keep up the agility routine for very long, as was all too clearly evidenced every time one of the shots grazed across her body. Her priority was avoiding the blasts of the plasma rifle, which she knew had the ability to end her quickly.

With a leap at least fifteen feet high and midair somersault, she sprang forward and snatched one of the handguns out of the air, crushing it in her vice-like grip as she narrowly avoided a spray of plasma. Silver watched in what appeared to be sadistic amusement as several shots grazed her body as she continued her gymnastic feats to reach and snap another gun in half.

As she tried to reach the plasma rifle, it flew quickly out of her way, and she was met instead by a shot from her pulse rifle. Samus screamed as the heavy blast exploded against her right thigh, grounding her firmly and rendering the leg useless as she fell to the floor. Momentarily paralyzed by the pain coming from the wound, she could only watch as the remaining five guns surrounded her.

Panting heavily, Samus sat up to assess the damage to her leg. He jumpsuit and thigh holster had been burned clean off by the blast, and it was bleeding badly, the blood burning the ground as it fell. Without the use of her leg, she could only roll to the side to try to avoid the handgun fire, but it was not sufficient. As three blasts flew at her, all she could do was put her hands up to her face as her body absorbed the full impact of the shots.

The bounty hunter hissed in agony as the shots slammed forcefully into her. She was burned and bleeding several places now, and she could taste something metallic but sour, which she quickly realized was a mouthful of her acidic blood.

_"Had enough?"_ Silver asked as he floated above bounty hunter who lay panting, covered in blood and sweat.

Samus didn't say anything as she stared up at him defiantly with her green eyes. Without warning, she felt her body being lifted into the air again, but she didn't have the strength to fight it. Specifically, the psychic force felt like it was lifting her by her neck, and she struggled to breath against it. Within seconds, she found herself face to face with Silver Wing as the Old Chozo sneered at her.

_"No armor. No guns. No allies."_ He stared her down, clearly baiting Samus to say something in her defense, but she remained silent as she glared back.  _"Take all that away and what is left of you?"_

Samus said nothing as they locked eyes for a long minute. Then, without warning, she spat her mouthful of blood into his beady black eyes.

Silver Wing screamed in pain as the acid burned his face and eyes, dropping his hold on the bounty hunter as she tumbled once more to the floor. But she didn't hesitate as she launched herself forward and grabbed onto the bottom of his robes, dragging him down to the floor with her. With an animalistic growl, she tore the Chozo from the air and pinned him on his back as she climbed on top, straddling his chest as best she could. The blood from the gunshot wound in her thigh burned him as she began punching his face furiously.

She was seeing red now, choking the Chozo out with one hand as she rained blows upon him with the other. The guns clattered to the ground around her as he lost consciousness within moments of her attack, but still she persisted. The force of her rage took over as she punched him repeatedly, growling inhumanly as she did so.

It was only when she was about to finish him off that she froze. As she came to her senses, she stared in horror at the scene before her. The Chozo's face was bent and bloody, her hand still crushing its throat. She saw her fingernails, black and dark green as acidic blood dripped from the cuts in her knuckles. Her own growl rang out in her ears as she realized what she sounded like now and the inhuman bloodlust that had taken over her as she had beaten Silver nearly to death.

Slowly, she slipped off of the unconscious Chozo, sitting beside him and staring at her bloodied fist. She knew she should finish him off. The moment he regained consciousness, he could go right back to attacking her, but the idea repulsed her. Her thigh was still bleeding, and she knew she could not stand, but she was not sure where to go even if she could. All she could do for a moment was sit, shell-shocked, as she tried to process what had just happened to lead to her beating and actively trying to kill a Chozo, one of the last of what she had long considered her people.

"Why don't you finish him off?" a deep voice suddenly rang out from across the laboratory, and Samus looked up to see the form of a second Chozo walking toward them from the far end. Her heart raced with adrenaline as she prepared herself for another battle, but the tall Chozo remained calm as he stepped forward. "By all means, Hatchling. Why not finish killing him?"

Samus looked between the battered Chozo beside her and the newcomer she recognized immediately. "Grey Voice," she mumbled as she looked him up and down. "Is that really you?"

"It is," replied the Chozo as he looked down at her with his calm, golden eyes. Of all the Chozo, he was the one who had been the most like a genetic father to Samus, having donated his own blood and genetic material in engineering her. "Why are you hesitating to kill him?"

The bounty hunter stared at the fallen body of Silver Wing, but she felt more like she were watching a movie than real life. It was too surreal, and she had the sudden feeling like nothing around her were actually happening and she was merely a spectator in her own life. "I guess I just… can't."

"What peculiar creatures humans are," Grey mused aloud as he watched Samus. "It's been almost twenty years since last I saw you, and you have not changed a bit, Hatchling."

Samus looked up at Grey, still feeling as though this were not happening. "You were my family," she said. "I can't bring myself to…" She stopped, closing her eyes to draw a breath. "I just can't right now."

Grey Voice stared at her sadly. "The blood of the Chozo and now even a xenomorph runs through your veins, and in the end, you're still so human it's frightening. Even after all he said and did to you, even after tasting the blood lust of the xenomorph and beating him almost to death, even as he tried to force you to pull the trigger, you still retained control of your own mind. Incredible. Old Bird was right. You truly were the successor we sought."

"Old Bird?" Samus looked up hopefully, still trying to process that Grey Voice was standing in front of her. "Where is he? Is Old Bird here too?"

Grey shook his head. "Sadly not, Hatchling. He perished in the fall of Zebes. Only a couple of others and I were able to escape after we sent you off. We've been in hiding twenty years. The rest are gone. This Acheron colony is but shreds of what our population once was. How you ended up here is beyond me. Perhaps fate truly does bind you to the Chozo."

"Don't know much about fate, but coincidence sure does." Samus stared at her blood burning holes in the stone ground. "I came here to ask him to restore my powersuit, but he refused. That's what started this whole thing."

"I know," Grey Voice replied calmly. "And if you had killed him, I would have destroyed the suit then and there, but you didn't. So I will fulfill your request."

Samus stared up at the Chozo in shock. "This was a test?"

He chuckled under his breath. "Have you learned nothing from your journeys to our planets? Do you really think we would grant you such a powerful weapon simply because you asked for it, especially now that we did not know the extent to which the xenomorph genetics would affect your mind?"

"But what if I had killed Silver? And what if I hadn't been able to resist him and had shot myself in the head? Did you ever think of that?"

Grey Voice shrugged. "If you killed Silver Wing, we would know you were powerful but unworthy of the suit, and if he had killed you, we would know you were simply too weak to be entrusted with such power. Twenty years is a long time Hatchling. For all we knew, human life and motherhood may have turned you soft."

"You know it's only been six months since I infiltrated Zebes, defeated Mother, and blew up the planet, right?"

"And it's only been a couple of days since you let yourself be stabbed to death by a human. You were sending mixed signals. We had to make sure you were still worthy of our legacy."

Samus raised her eyebrows and thought about it for a moment. "With parents like you, it's no wonder I'm as screwed up as I am."

"What do you mean?"

The bounty hunter shook her head. "Nevermind." Slowly, she turned to Silver Wing's unconscious form and pulled the powersuit from the pocket of his robes. "Can you please just fix this and let me get on with my life?"

Grey Voice stepped forward and took the suit from Samus. "It would be my honor, Hatchling." As his eyes glowed a soft golden color, the suit on its heavy chain hovered before him. From the deep wound on Samus's leg, a stream of her blood floated toward it and transformed into a glowing red energy as it circled the metallic pendant. Slowly, the front face of the metal disk opened and revealed the glowing orange gold light of the suit within it. As the red energy of the blood entered and fused with the energy of the suit, the metallic disk's face closed and began to glow a soft red gold and radiate warmth around Samus and Grey Voice.

"What's happening?" the bounty hunter asked, unsure of how the Chozo had managed to turn her blood into energy so quickly.

"Your blood," Grey said as he focused on the suit between his hands, "would have burned through your armor if it had tried to fuse with your body. By adding its energy to the energy of the suit, it will be able to recognize you once more and grant you protection from such blood."

Samus nodded, still not completely understanding how he was doing it, but the Chozo had long proven capable of energy manipulation in ways she could not begin to understand.

As the suit finished glowing and fell into his palm, Grey Voice turned his attention to where Samus sat, blood still flowing from the deep wound in her thigh. The pulse rifle blast had scorched much of the skin around it as well. "You can't stand, can you?"

The bounty hunter shook her head. "I can treat it if I can get back to my ship though."

Grey voice nodded and reached out a hand to help her pull herself up to stand with all of her weight on her good leg. She gasped suddenly as she felt the Chozo's warm energy flooding into her own body. Slowly, as he held her hand, she could feel the cuts on her body closing up as he used his psychic abilities to heal her wounds.

Samus could only stare wide-eyes with gratitude. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," the Chozo replied, panting tiredly as he stopped pouring his own energy into her. "You've truly done enough for us over the years, Hatchling. Are you sure you want to take the mantle of a warrior back up and return to your Federation? We haven't much here on Acheron, but we have a Chozo settlement here. You would be home at last."

Samus shook her head. "I already have a home. Not a traditional one really, but I have people now…"

"Your human child."

She nodded. "And I still need to protect them. I dedicated my life to being the galaxy's protector, my whole life. I can't just stop. I'll be a warrior with or without the suit."

"Very well." The Chozo smiled sadly as the suit on its heavy chain rose between his palms once more and transformed into a red-golden light as it flew forward and enveloped Samus's body. For a moment, she was lifted off of the ground and bathed in the blinding light before it gently lowered her and faded once more, revealing Samus standing before Grey Voice, clad from head to toe in her signature Chozo battle armor.

The only difference now was that while the red chest plate and helmet remained the same, the once golden under layer was now a sleek silver color, and the orange outer armor was now a deep metallic black. Her visor and lights around her suit glowed a brighter green than before, and as she opened her eyes, her HUD informed her that all systems were back online including the gravity suit function, the space jump, and the screw attack. There was a new feature, however, something in Chozo that she decided to translate roughly as the "Xeno Suit."

Grey Voice stared back at her through the bright green visor and smiled. "It has a new upgrade to match your own."

Samus grinned, flexing the black armor of her left hand and swinging her armor cannon about to get a feel for it. It felt wonderful to be back in her armor. Tears rolled gently from her eyes as she felt its familiar energy course through her. It was as though a part of her body had been restored.

"Thank you, Grey."

"Thank you, Hatchling."

She nodded as she turned to go but paused and looked back at the old Chozo. "I have one more question though. Why didn't you sterilize me when you built me? I really thought you would have. What you did doesn't make sense. Why leave a flaw in your greatest weapon?"

Grey Voice chuckled. "Because you were never just a weapon, Hatchling. We Chozo fell into decline because we lost sight of everything but advancing our technology and our empire. You had lost so much, we didn't want to take those choices away from you as well. We did not know for certain that you would ever be able to have a hatchling of your own, but you were our only successor, and perhaps we wanted to live on even after you were gone as well."

"Thank you," she said softly with a smile, but her demeanor suddenly shifted as she pointed her cannon at Grey Voice's head. "But if any of you ever come for him and try to do to him what you did to me, I will come down here and slaughter each and every last one of you and hunt the remaining members of your species throughout the galaxy until you are extinct for real. Understand?"

"Perfectly," Grey Voice replied calmly. "I would expect nothing less from you."

Samus nodded once more as she turned to go, leaving Grey Voice, Silver Wing, and the lab with the massive biosphere behind. The heavy boots of her powersuit clicked in their familiar way as she walked back out through the door and into the antechamber. Once it closed behind her, she turned to the other two doors on the same wall: the labs marked for Metroids and Xenomorphs.

Without hesitation, she blasted open the door to the Metroid lab and entered a room similar to the one in which she had died a few days earlier. Metroids of all life stages save for a queen slept in stasis in glass tubes that extended from the ground into the ceiling. Computer screens glowed softly along the walls. The whole laboratory was strangely peaceful.

Without a second thought, Samus unleashed a barrage of super missiles into the room, shattering the glass tubes as the rows of Metroids fell from their prisons and out onto the floor. As they began to awaken, still sluggish from their stasis, the hunter released a barrage of ice spreader blasts and super missiles into all of their forms. Her rapid fire was so relentless and brutal, the entire room was frozen over in a matter of seconds, and the powerful concussive blasts of the super missiles shattered the frozen Metroids within moments.

Amazed at the upgraded powers of her suit, Samus made quick work of the Metroids before she turned and left the lab, leaving a trail of frozen entrails in her wake. She ignored the xenomorph lab as she turned and headed back up the corridor to Lab IX and eventually back to her ship, stopping only to exterminate the last larval Metroid that floated in the room where she had been killed. Each computer she passed, she sent a super missile into, burning away any information the Chozo might have still had about their Metroid breeding program. She knew she was not being as thorough as she could be and that they would likely still be able to recreate the Metroids, but she had no intention of making that any easier on them.

She did not stop her march of destruction until she was out of the Chozo Ruins and back on her ship. As she jumped through the hatch and landed in her medical bay, she deactivated the powersuit, feeling it rest on the heavy chain on her neck once more. She smiled as she turned it over in her hands and looked down at her body. There was a new scar on her leg where she had been shot, but it did not look nearly as bad as it might have had Grey Voice not healed her. She did not know what would become of those Chozo now, but frankly, she did not care.

As she stepped through the hatch into her living quarters, she felt warm relief spread through her to see Adam, Archer, and Hector staring back at her expectantly. With a grin, she showed them the powersuit around her neck, but before anyone had the chance to say anything she ran up to her son, threw her arms around him, and lifted him clean off the ground.

"I just wanted to let you know how much I love you, kid," she said as he gasped in shock.

"Um…" he muttered as she set him down. "Thanks, Mom. I love you too."

"I just wanted to let you know, I know I'm never gonna win any Mother of the Year awards, but I promise you that I will never throw you into a wall, shoot you, threaten your children's lives, or make you hold a gun to your own head to prove your loyalty to me. I just wanted to let you know that."

"Uh…. Thank you?" Hector stared at her in confusion and looked to Adam for any answers, but the General just shrugged and shook his head. "I appreciate not being shot? So… yay?"

Samus nodded and kissed him on the forehead. "Exactly."

 


	29. The Nest

"Bishop," the flight officer called out to the android. "I'm going in. Don't let Dr. Grey out of your sight."

Ripley removed her gun from Portia's back as she left the doctor and the android behind and walked toward the building. She knew there was a chance that Newt might still be alive, cocooned down in the xenomorph nest, and however small that chance was, she needed to take it. Memories of her daughter, Amanda, flickered through her mind; everything from flashes of the girl's childhood to the moment she had learned of her death while sitting on the bench of an artificial park simulator in one of the Company's stations. Waking from an extended hypersleep to learn fifty-seven years had gone by had been difficult enough. Learning that her daughter had lived a full life, married, and died while she slept had been gut wrenching. She refused to lose Newt too.

The flight officer was heavily armed between the pulse rifle and the flamethrower. Neither one was at full ammo, but they would have to do. She had a grenade tucked carefully into the pocket of her pants, something she had been holding onto for a while in case she ever encountered another swarm. She strode forward toward the dilapidated and slimy building decisively, but she stopped dead in her tracks when something on the ground caught her eyes. Without hesitation, she bent over and picked up the shiny, metallic object, and her breath caught in her throat. Turning it over in her hands, the flight officer immediately recognized the handgun.

"This was the gun Newt was carrying," Ripley said as she turned to look back toward Bishop and Portia. The gun itself was thick with alien slime, and it left a cold feeling in the flight officer's stomach. Holstering the gun to her hip, Ripley turned back to her task as though she had never been interrupted. She carried her rifle in front of her, poised to fire at anything that should come her way.

Ripley didn't need to open a door to get into the grey building because it had long since been torn off of its hinges. Trails of slime led through the building's entrance, and misshapen blobs of organic matter crunched under her feet as she stepped into the slimy entrance. All thoughts of Bishop and Portia disappeared from her mind as she walked quietly through the sticky, gelatinous mess of a building. This was definitely the entrance to the nest.

Her odds of survival were basically nil. Even armed as she was, she knew it was inadequate. There was no telling how many of the creatures would be down in that nest, and wherever they were cocooning people must have had eggs nearby. She doubted she'd be able to get anywhere near the eggs without a fight.

Despite her single-mindedness, she did take a moment to note that this building was not near anything resembling the alien ship the crew of the  _Nostromo_  had come across on that fateful mission when her first xenomorph had attached itself to Kane's face. Having discovered the lab Burke had locked her and Newt in, she knew the LV-426 colonists had been attempting to study the facehugger life stage of the aliens, and she wondered if this nest were originally some underground laboratory in which they had tried to propagate the creatures.

Portia had mentioned something about a xenomorph queen, and Ripley began to wonder if they reproduced like bees or ants did back on Earth. She shuddered to think about what encountering a queen xenomorph might be like. The regular ones were horrific enough already.

It did not take long before Ripley discovered the elevator shaft. She tried hitting the button to open the heavy double doors but found it no longer worked. Claw marks extending from the split in the doors suggested it had been pried open from the inside at least once, so she decided it was worth a shot to try to pry it open again. Turning down a hallway, she came across a maintenance supply closet. When she tried to flick on the light, it lit up for a second but promptly went out as though the simple act had caused a circuit to blow. Looking around as best she could, she found a flashlight and shone it into the rest of the dark closet.

She knew it was unlikely that she would find guns or ammo in a tool closet, but she was still a little disappointed when there weren't any. The first thing she noticed, however, gave her an idea. It was nothing but a roll of industrial space-grade duct tape, but it would be useful. Setting her pulse rifle down on what appeared to be a discarded student desk, she securely mounted the flamethrower on top of it and taped them together. Then, as an afterthought, she taped the flashlight up on top. It was a crude way to build a better weapon, and her aim would certainly be compromised, but with the way those giant things would rush her, aiming was not an issue so much as how fast she could fire a round off. With the rifle and flamethrower joined, she could switch between them with ease, and the flashlight would come in handy to help her see.

She didn't know if this primitive hybrid weapon would protect her any better than having two separate weapons would, but she also had no idea that she would have been able to fire a shot either way before one of the aliens got her. It was most likely a suicide mission, plain and simple, but that didn't matter to her. Surviving meant nothing to her if Newt were killed, particularly in such a gruesome fashion. Images of Kane writhing in pain just before the creature burst from his chest filled her mind every time she slept, and she awoke nearly every night drenched in sweat recalling the horror of that day. She would be damned before she let Newt suffer that same fate.

Finding a comfortable way to hold her hybrid weapon, she looked around the closet for anything she could use to open the elevator and was relieved to find a crow bar. At least she would not have to come up with a creative way to use this tool, she mused as she grabbed it and headed back toward the elevator.

It was not hard to pry open the double doors, loose as they were from having been opened so many times by the aliens below. The problem, she noted, as she finally got the doors open, was that there was no elevator inside the deep, empty shaft. Ripley shone her flashlight and stared down the shaft as far as she could see, but there was no elevator there, and it did not come when she pressed the buttons to summon it. Power to the whole system must have been down.

The walls of the shaft were ominously lined with claw marks and the same transparent slime she had walked through to get into the building. It struck her as odd that there were no cables, but she remembered modern elevators rarely used cables anymore and operated more on electric hover systems. She wondered how many xenomorphs had been up and down this shaft and how long it would be before the next batch came by and picked her off before she could ever get to the nest. There was not going to any easy way to get to the nest at this point.

With a deep breath, the flight officer turned off the light, slung her hybrid rifle over her back, and lowered herself down into the shaft. Fortunately for her, there was a crude maintenance ladder inset into the walls, and she was able to climb it. It was a long way down into the shaft, and she had no way of knowing what would be down there once she reached the bottom. The handgrips were treacherous, and the slime made them slippery. More than once, she nearly lost her footing and had to hold herself up with all the strength she could muster to prevent slipping off and falling into the black abyss.

She focused on keeping breathing steady as she climbed down slowly, refusing to let herself rush lest she fall and get herself killed, leaving no one to save Newt. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and goose bumps covered her skin as she descended into the darkness. She could feel her chest constrict every time she grabbed a new handhold and felt it heavy with the thick alien slime.

When she had awoken in the infirmary of one of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation's stations, she had told herself repeatedly that she was safe and that the alien she had encountered on the  _Nostromo_  was a thing of the past that couldn't hurt her anymore. She had initially refused when Carter Burke came to her and asked her to assist on an expedition to this moon with the Colonial Marines to advise them on the xenomorphs they had previously insisted were all in her mind. She couldn't say that the creatures terrified her any less now than they had when she had first encountered the one back on the  _Nostromo_ , but now she found herself pursuing not just one, but a whole nest full in order to save a little girl who may very well have been dead for hours. Even if she was still alive, there may very well have been one of the creatures gestating inside of her.

After climbing for a while, she found it was too dark to see much more than her hands in front of her face. The light from the entrance above was dim, and she still had no idea how much deeper she had to go. Still, Ripley kept going, focusing on her breathing and trying not to think of the creatures that awaited her at the bottom. It took her completely by surprise when her foot hit something solid where the next rung of the ladder should have been. At first, she jumped, but then she realized she had reached some kind of a surface, either the bottom of the shaft or the top of the elevator.

Carefully, she stepped onto the platform, bringing her rifle back around to her front and shining the light around her. She appeared to be standing on top of a metal elevator. A quick glance around revealed an even greater density of the alien slime complete with chunks of organic matter she guessed might be part of their skin shedding. If skin was even the word for whatever their outer layer was made of. In the far corner of the elevator, she noticed twisted metal and a hole leading down into the car. It was twisted outward as thought something had clawed its way out from within.

Slowly, she approached it, listening intently for any signs of life nearby, but all she could hear was her own heart thundering in her ears. Nothing moved as she made her way over to the opening in the elevator car, and as she knelt beside it, she shone her light into it, finger on the trigger of her pulse rifle. She knew better than to reply upon sound alone since the sneaky creatures could lay perfectly still and blend in with their environment. But even shining the flashlight did not reveal anything in the elevator car. Instead, she noticed there was something unusual in the elevator itself. At its center was a hologram, similar to ones she had seen on other elevators, but it kept flickering in and out of existence. It must have been a short or because the power was down to the rest of the building. She wondered if it would work if she tried it and set it to the back of her mind as she climbed down into the elevator.

She didn't have the crow bar this time, but it didn't matter. One of the doors of this elevator had been torn clean off. Her heart raced as she realized it opened to the lower level, the actual entrance to the xenomorph hive. Ripley held her rifle close, finger ready on the trigger as she shone the light around surveying the area. The air was heavy with the stench of rotting human flesh, and she thought she might be sick. But she held back her vomit even as she could taste it coming up in the back of her mouth as she walked forward.

The elevator opened into a crude tunnel of sorts. She could see how it might have been functional at one time, but the walls were mostly concrete, and the ground was earthen. The thickest deposits of alien slime she had ever seen covered everything, and she had to take high steps to stop her shoes from getting stuck in it. Pieces of aliens were encased within the goo, and she wondered if they had a habit of tearing one another apart and leaving the chunks behind. Either way, she thought they smelled like they were rotting but it might have been because the whole place was so heavy with the scent of decay.

Ripley walked quietly but quickly, hiding behind walls until she was certain the coast was clear before going down corridors. After a certain point, the earthen floor became a metal one, and she recognized it as the same sorts of steel sheets of metal they had used in the floor of the lab Burke had locked her in. Only this time, the floor was buried beneath the thick layers of slime, and in some places she could see where a concentrated acid had burned straight through.

Her heart raced. It was pitch dark save for her flashlight, and in the distance she could hear sounds almost like screeching. She knew she was getting close to the hive now, hopefully getting close to Newt.

When she turned down one corridor, she noticed the slime had become some sort of thick heavy webbing, and she recognized what it was immediately. The walls were lined in cocooning material, and she half expected to see another barely living body ensnared in it and begging for death, but there were none to be found. Instead, she found herself face to face with the obviously long dead and decaying body of what she thought might have been a man at one time. She suppressed a scream as she looked him up and down. His skin had turned an unnatural shade of gray and purple, and through the hole in his chest, she could see his organs pouring through, long dried and so rotten they were almost black. There were no words to describe the stench that came from the corpse, and she thought he might have been dead so long he was one of the original colonists.

Pulling herself away from the grotesque scene, she continued along the wall, passing other dead and rotting human bodies ensnared in the goo. She fought the urge to gag, but after a moment, she noticed something odd. The cocoon and bodies just seemed to stop at a point along the wall that looked severely charred. It was as though an explosive had gone off there. Ripley looked around for any sign of what could have caused it. It was a small but concentrated blast that completely burned through the webbing on one wall and what looked like it could have been the remains of several eggs.

A twisted piece of metal caught Ripley's eye, and as she bent to examine it, she recognized it as part of a pulse rifle. More specifically, she was certain it was Vasquez's rifle given that she could make out what appeared to be a few Spanish expletives etched into its twisted barrel. Ripley set the rifle down where she had found it, the only gesture she could think to make to honor Vasquez. At least now she knew what had become of the cocky young marine, and judging by the blast radius, it looked like she had not gone down without giving them hell.

It was then that she heard a small sound in the distance, and Ripley redoubled the grip on her own rifle, ready to fire at any moment.

"Ripley!" a small voice called out in the distance, and the flight officer's heart leapt up in her chest.

"Newt?" she called back quietly.

"Ripley, help!" the little girl's voice called as Ripley rushed to a new section of the wall that was still thick with slimy cocoon threads. "I'm trapped!"

It did not take long for Ripley to find the spot where Newt was ensnared, and she breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the little girl.

"It's okay, Newt," she called back, grabbing her knife from her belt and starting to cut through the web to where the terrified girl was suspended and immobilized against the wall. "I've got you."

"Ripley, look out!"

The flight officer turned on a dime, just in time to catch the facehugger jumping toward her. Not a moment too soon, she shot a round from her pulse rifle and hit it dead center. The creature exploded with an ear-piercing screech, and its remains fell to the ground in steaming chunks.

Turning back to Newt, Ripley continued cutting away at the webbing until the child was free, and she pulled her out. Taking her in her arms, she held her on her hip with one arm and held her hybrid rifle in the other.

"Ripley," the girl cried. "Look!"

Ripley turned back in the direction from which the facehugger had sprung. As she shone her flashlight, she realized that not only had there been one egg reserved for Newt, but that she was now standing right in the heart of the nest, surrounded by eggs. As she looked about the room and raised her flashlight up, she caught sight of the largest, most terrifying form she had ever seen.

Above them hung an absolutely massive xenomorph, it's long grotesque arms more numerous than any of the others and it's head absolutely massive and fanned out in a way such that it looked like it were wearing a crown made of its same sleek black exoskeleton. Ripley set Newt on the ground slowly as she held her rifle firmly in both hands as the beast lowered its head and she found herself face to face with the absolutely massive xenomorph.

Slowly its head descended until its lower jaw dropped down revealing the second mouth filled with sharp silver teeth. As it regarded Ripley through its eyeless face, it opened its lower jaw and made the deepest, most primal hiss she had ever heard.

As the little girl and the flight officer watched regular xenomorphs appear on all sides and surround them, they realized that the giant creature in the center was the leader. And now they were trapped deep underground, barely armed and at the mercy of the Xenomorph Queen.

 


	30. Magnum Opus

Samus leaned back on her couch and took a moment to savor the feeling of the power suit on its heavy chain around her neck. She could feel its warm energy pulsing throughout her body as she closed her eyes. Her encounter with the Chozo had been…  _ethically questionable_  at best. And she supposed she had mixed feelings about the newly modified "Xeno Suit" upgrade, but as strange as it seemed, having her bizarre genetic modification translate into a suit upgrade helped to normalize the situation.

Having the suit back just felt right. She knew she was a very capable warrior without it, but even so, losing it had left her feeling as crippled and vulnerable as losing part of her body. Mostly because the suit was a part of her body, an extension of herself. Now she sat in her living room, resting on her couch as she finished telling Adam and her son how she had fought Silver Wing, encountered Grey Voice, and gotten her suit back.

Hector sat on the floor beside Archer as he stared at her in confusion. Adam sat beside her on the couch, taking in each word and trying to make heads or tails out the ordeal they had put her through to get it back. He found it concerning that the Chozo had the power to restore her suit the whole time but did not feel they could trust her with it until they knew how the xenomorph DNA would affect her. Or perhaps, he thought more cynically, they had been waiting to see if she returned to them and asked for it as Silver had said she would. The General wondered if the detestable Chozo had counted on getting his face smashed in.

He was not sure what to make of his friend's expedition back into the mines, but as far as he could tell, she was happy just to have the suit back, and in a way she felt more "whole" than she had without it.

"Are you feeling better now, Lady?" he asked once he was certain she had finished telling the story.

The bounty hunter nodded as she leaned forward to pick up a mug of coffee that was sitting on the coffee table. "Yes. Definitely. Not 100%, but doing a hell of a lot better than I was for sure."

Adam just nodded. He was glad he had been able to talk her into taking a coffee break while he gave her a brief physical evaluation. Even if she insisted she claimed she was all right, he felt better checking for himself. With the exception of a slight worsening of her general hypertension, she was in excellent condition now. Even her lungs, which had still been suffering from a decreased capacity after she had breathed in concentrated burning afloraltite fumes on earth, were in much better condition. If the numbers on his quick assessment were accurate, they were even healthier and stronger than they had been when she had taken her last trip to Zebes, and that made him feel better.

As frightening as the addition of the xenomorph DNA was, it actually seemed to be helping Samus. Her face may have looked strange with the vein-like black marks and greenish eyes, but she looked healthier overall in a few different ways. There was something about the mercenary that just seemed rejuvenated, and she radiated a certain vigor that had been lacking since her battles on SR-388 and Zebes. Even so, he knew he needed to get her to an actual doctor once this mission was all said and done. She may have looked fine, but there were thousands of things that could be going wrong in her body that he couldn't see. Not to mention her ever-present high blood pressure issues she refused to get checked out.

"So, Dr. Malkovich," Samus asked with a note of amusement in her tone, "am I all clear? Can I get back to the mission now, or am I going to spontaneously combust?"

Adam grunted as he took one last look at her medical read-outs on the tablet in his hand. "No spontaneous combustion as far as I can tell. There's been a slight increase in the concentration of xenomorph DNA in your system, but it's increasing at such a low rate now, I think it's safe to say any new surprises that might manifest are already part of your system. In other words, I expect the xenomorph genes to stop spreading altogether within the next couple of hours if they haven't completely stopped already."

"Heh." Samus handed off her empty coffee mug to her son as she stood up. "For someone so opposed to bioweapons research, you sure do have a good understanding of how it works."

The General stood up as well, passing the tablet off to Hector and assuming the teenager just knew where to put everything. "It's wise to understand that which one opposes. Particularly when you are the one presenting research about why the galaxy-wide ban on it needs to stay in place."

The mercenary just nodded as she and the General walked into the cockpit and shut the door behind them. Samus sat down in her pilot's seat and placed her left hand on the control orb. The dash in front of her lit up brightly as the engines hummed to life. Within seconds, a bright orange light engulfed Samus's body, and as it started to fade, it turned black with a pearlescent green shimmer before fading entirely to reveal Samus fully clad in the black and silver Xeno Suit.

Adam studied the changes in her suit's appearance. Her chest plate and helmet were still the same red color, but the lights and visor were much brighter green. Black replaced the orange color of her outer armor while silver replaced the thinner yellow layer of armor around her abdomen and inner thighs. The arm cannon was unchanged, but he noted that she had the plasma beam active rather than the default power beam, something he found odd considering she was still on her ship.

"Guess you won't have to resort to punching aliens in the face anymore," he attempted to joke, but it came out too nervous sounding to be convincing. He was not sure why the black and silver Xeno Suit bothered him more than any other upgrade he had seen her with, but he suspected it had to do with its origins. The xenomorphs were a particularly vicious species, and Samus's increased bloodlust was part of the same update package as her new look.

The bounty hunter glanced over at him from behind her visor, lessening the opacity so he could see her eyes through it. "Something wrong, Adam?"

The General shook his head. "I think this mission is just starting to get to me."

"Agreed." Samus nodded her helmet as she looked toward the forward window and scanned the area for anything suspicious. "The sooner we find Rip—" She froze and stared out the window at something moving in the distance. In the dim light of early sunrise, she could just barely make out a form walking down the rickety staircase hewn in the surrounding rockface. "Hold up a minute."

"What is it, Lady?" Adam asked as he tried to figure out what she was looking at, but he lacked her low-light vision.

"Fucking hell," Samus muttered under her breath as she watched the figure descending down to the ground level of the mines. The longer she watched, the more certain she was that the creature was humanoid, one humanoid in particular. Rage welled up within the bounty hunter as she saw the lithe form awkwardly trying to make a dash for one of the entrances to the Chozo ruins.

"Samus, what do you see?"

The bounty hunter stood up suddenly, her angry, intimidating form casting a chill throughout the cockpit. "Stay on the ship, Adam. Keep Hector safe. I have some unfinished business I need to take care of."

Adam didn't argue with Samus or try to stop her as she stormed out of the cockpit. He didn't have to ask what she had seen or where she was going. He could tell from her icy tone exactly what— or more specifically, who— she had seen out in the mines, and he felt a cold knot forming in his stomach. Samus's temper was frightening on a good day, but the bloodlust she had displayed fighting the creature in the bunker and then described from her battle with Silver Wing was even more frightening. And he didn't worry about her killing the person she now pursued so much as he worried about the effect it could have on her psychologically. It wasn't like Samus had never killed a human before, far from it, but she had always been in control of herself in battle. Given the identity of the human he assumed she was pursuing, he was not sure how in control she was going to be. On the other hand, he was completely indifferent to the other human's well being given when she had done to Samus.

He did not have long to ponder whether or not the bounty hunter would be killing anyone in cold blood because he noticed another two figures descending into the mine and heading for the same target Samus was. Even in the dim light of the early morning, he could tell that these other two forms were far larger than either Samus or the person she pursued. From the way they moved, even as far away as they were, he was certain they were xenomorphs. And he actually found himself hoping they made it to the person before Samus did.

* * *

Hatred was something so familiar to Samus that its presence was almost comforting. Since the time she had been a small child and watched her mother be disemboweled and eaten by the Space Pirate Leader Ridley, she had known exactly what it meant to hate a creature and wish for its destruction with every fiber of her being. Vengeance had been as much a driving factor in her early part of the war as the desire to help people had been, and each time she had laid waste to her many nemeses, there had been a carnal side of her that had relished their destruction.

It was that same primal part of her mind that drove her forward now, out the top hatch of her ship and racing toward the person she had spotted coming down into the mines. Samus had no idea what the other woman was doing here, but she did not care. The only thing that mattered to the bounty hunter was getting at the object of her rage before the two approaching xenomorphs could.

The bounty hunter could see the thin form of the doctor as she noticed the xenomorphs coming up on her quickly and tried to make a dash for the nearest entrance to the Chozo ruins below. Samus knew the human woman would never make it in time though given how fast the aliens were, especially now that they were in full pursuit of their prey. Even as fast as her powerful legs could run, Samus knew she would never reach the woman in time to spare her from being xeno-chow, so she activated the speed-boosters on her suit. Her sprint became an incredible dash as she practically flew across the straightaway toward her target. There was a loud boom as she broke the sound barrier, the doctor never leaving her sights.

The terrified woman ran as quickly as she could from the xenomorphs but froze at the sonic boom and the sight of the bounty hunter racing toward her. She covered her face frantically with her hands in a feeble attempt at bracing herself for impact, but the bounty hunter came to an instantaneous stop right in front of her, less than a yard from where the woman stood. Barely having time to take in Samus's presence, she turned on a dime at the sound of the alien screeches coming from behind her.

Portia screamed as the two xenomorphs were nearly upon her, both leaping into the air simultaneously as they were ready to strike. She braced herself for the impact, but it never came. From behind her, two plasma beams shot out, one striking each of the xenomorphs and forcing them backward with other worldly screeches that sent shivers into the woman's core.

As the aliens recovered from the blasts, they turned their attention to the cyborg in black armor, but their retaliation was short-lived as a barrage of plasma blasts rained upon them, each shot searing into their hard, skeletal bodies as the bounty hunter incinerated them. Samus's attacks were merciless as she burned the beasts alive, not even ceasing once they were dead and continuing the deluge of fire until their bodies were completely cremated, nothing more than smoldering black ash on the ground.

It was only once she had wiped the two aliens completely from existence that Samus turned her attention to Portia. The doctor was cowering on her hands and knees at this point, trembling and barely able to force herself to look up at Samus.

"Y-you saved me," her voice squeaked out as she gazed upon the bounty hunter. "Th-thank you."

"Don't thank me," Samus's deep voice rang out, its impact amplified by the synthesizer in her helmet. "I prevented them from killing you, but don't make the mistake of thinking I'm here to save you."

Portia's eyes grew wide as she stayed on the ground, slowly inching back onto her knees. "Who are you?"

Samus tilted her head curiously. "Don't be an idiot."

"S-Samus? Samus Aran?" Her trembling became even more evident as she shook her head. "That's not possible. You're dead…"

"Not anymore." Samus stared at her through her visor, which was fully opaque at this point. The stoic bounty hunter didn't flinch as she kept her cannon trained on Portia's shaking body.

"The creature… what happened to the creature?"

"Creature?"

"Y-yes," Portia stammered out, slowly getting to her feet. "The one that was inside of you. Where is my creature?"

Samus remained perfectly still as she glowered at her murderer. "You're looking at it."

"What?"

"Idiot," Samus spat. "Did you really think your plan would work? To create a xenomorph incubated in my body? To create the perfect bioweapon? You don't know the first think about creating the perfect bioweapon!"

"What happened to it?" Portia's voice was more angry than frightened as her hands balled into fists. "What did you do to my creation?"

"There is no creation!" Samus shouted at her, the bounty hunter's voice booming through the valley.

"There is too!" Portia yelled back, staring angrily at the bounty hunter, all pretense of cowardice gone. "I disabled and impregnated you with a xenomorph larva! It should have used your body to gestate and come out by now! I built the perfect bioweapon! I created life!"

"Life?" Samus stared at her incredulously. "No, you don't know the first thing about that if you think murdering me and using my corpse to build a monster is somehow a way of creating life. I don't know what delusional world you live in, but quite frankly it's a shame you weren't on that space station when Ridley came to abduct the infant Metroid and off your crew because the galaxy would have been much better off without your twisted ideas in it. You want to know what happened to your creation? You're looking at it! I absorbed your precious larva because you couldn't possibly build anything close to a perfect bioweapon if you couldn't even realize what was before you. I already am the perfect bioweapon!"

"LIAR!" Portia screamed as her hand reached inside of her coat and pulled out Samus's handgun. She had it pointed straight at the bounty hunter's head when a shot burst forth from Samus's cannon. The plasma beam easily blew up the small gun and burned the doctors right hand clean off. Both the twisted metal and the charred tissue fell to the ground as Portia screamed and clutched her cauterized stump close to her chest.

"Don't fuck with me," Samus said in a calm, even tone.

"Y-you're a monster," Portia managed to say through ragged breathing as she stepped backward. "A-are you going to kill me now?"

The metallic cyborg remained expressionless as she watched Portia through her visor. "No, Portia. I'm not like you. I don't kill wounded, defenseless people."

"Then what are you going to do to me?" The scent of her melted flesh filled the air, threatening to make her sick.

"I'm going to give you your wish," Samus said as she took a step forward and began to glow with a green-black light. Within seconds, the suit dematerialized to reveal the human woman within. She stared coldly at Portia through her dead green eyes, the dark vein-like marks on her face giving her an almost demonic quality. "I'm showing you your creature. I'm your Xenomorph Fusion."

The doctor stared at Samus with a new awe in her gaze as the bounty hunter stepped forward. "My Magnum Opus," she whispered to herself. "My life's greatest work."

Samus stepped right in front of her, the tall bounty hunter towering over the human doctor. "I'm not your work. I'm a weapon, but I'm nobody's weapon but my own."

Without warning the bounty hunter lashed out and punched the doctor in the face. With a grunt, the doctor's body went flying over and toppled onto the ground face first as she clutched her stump of an arm. Though it was not nearly as hard as Samus had punched the Xenomorph earlier that day, the blow still had enough force to render the woman unconscious instantly. The mercenary stood over her crumpled form for a moment and stared down at her.

"You killed me," Samus said quietly even though no one could hear her. "You of all people, a pathetic little coward. I turned to you for help… you don't deserve to live. But I won't be the one to kill you."

Kneeling beside the unconscious body, Samus pulled a set of space cuffs from her utility belt and bound Portia's arms behind her back, binding the singular cylinder extra tight around her forearms so her lack of a hand would not allow her to slip out. She applied a similar silver tube-like structure around the woman's ankles so she would not be able to walk or stand should she awaken. Not particularly caring about her captive's well being, Samus took Portia's long, thick hair and wrapped it around her hand as she proceeded to drag the doctor back toward her ship.

"I want to kill you," the bounty hunter said to the woman, "if only because of what you put my son through thinking he not only lost me but was responsible for getting me killed. That's worse than the knife you stuck in my back. But I'm not going to kill you because you can still be useful to me once we get back to base. I don't care if the interrogation kills you, but I'll get everything out of you: your connection to Harper, the conspiracy to murder Adam, the bioweapons research programs, what people were doing trying to dig into Chozo ruins, everything."

It took a long time for Samus to drag Portia's body back to the ship, and the sun was fully visible by the time the mercenary picked up the unconscious body and hopped on top of her ship with it. As she descended into her medical bay, she was glad to find she was alone. Quietly, she carried the body over to what looked like a steel-plated holding cell, but the door was open.

"This is where I transport criminals I capture," Samus said in a hushed voice, not wanting anyone in the cabin to hear. "It contains a fully automated sterilization system, so lately I've just been letting my dog shit in it while he's onboard." Throwing the body of the doctor into the holding cell, she pressed the button on the wall so the transparent, missile-proof door slid into place and locked. "Unfortunately for you, I put my teenage son in charge of running that system to clean up after the dog, and he is terribly irresponsible. I don't envy your quarters on this flight."

Samus stared at the unconscious woman behind the glass, and her rage and hatred gave way to disgust with herself. Leaning forward, she rested her head on the wall and thumped it with her fist. Portia deserved much worse than what she was getting, especially once Samus turned her over to the Federation police and their ethics codes would prevent them from getting too rough with her. Still, even as cowardly and despicable as the woman was, it bothered Samus to delight in her suffering as much as she did.

Hatred had been something Samus had known since a young age, since she had watched Ridley disembowel and eat her mother before her eyes. Vengeance had driven her far in pursuing and eliminating him. In the end, Samus had vanquished her foes and survived the Space Pirate War. But she would have to be a fool to think that a life forged in violence and hatred had not permanently twisted her. Rage had corrupted her growth from a child into an adult, and while she could put on a stoic face and accept the praise people showered onto her for being a hero, it never changed what she knew she was capable of on her solo missions, the things she had done to obtain her vengeance over the years. Now was no different.

Xenomorph blood or not, she knew this side of her, this particularly wrathful streak, had been a part of her for a long time. It didn't usually bother her. It made her a very effective mercenary. But now she had her son in the next room, and this was another side of her she never wanted him to see. She never wanted him to see her in the throws of a flashback and have him think she was weak, and she never wanted him to see her in her working-mode and see her as a killer.

Samus took a few minutes to compose herself, taking deep breaths as she tried to keep her eyes diverted from her prisoner in the holding pen. Eventually she was able to compose herself enough to go back into the cabin. She couldn't bring herself to look at or say anything to Hector as she walked by, but Adam understood immediately and followed her silently into the cockpit. He locked the door behind him.

 


	31. Rooms on Fire

"Lady?" Adam asked as he stepped into the cockpit and locked the door behind him. Samus had not even acknowledged that he was following her, and now she stood with her back to him facing the forward window of the ship.

"Portia's in the holding cell," the bounty hunter responded absently, her deep voice taking on a distant monotone as she still refused to turn around and face Adam. "I kept her in one piece… sort of. She's short a hand."

"She's alive?" The General couldn't mask the surprise in his voice.

Samus nodded. "Believe me, it wasn't my first choice. You know I would never want there to be anyone running around out there who could say they defeated me, much less that they killed me. But she has information that could help us get at Harper and Green. Maybe we could even take down that company that sent Ripley here and financed the mining of the Chozo ruins."

"That's good news." He paused as he studied her slumped form. "So what's wrong then?"

Slowly, the bounty hunter turned to look at him. She led with the right side of her face, the scarred side with thick, vein-like markings. "I'm trying to get used to this still. I can't tell you how badly I want to go back there, tear open that holding cell and beat her to death with my bare hands. I crave it… and it terrifies me. This  _bloodlust_. Is this what I am now? Is this xenomorph blood corrupting my brain the way the phazon did? Or is this just who I am?"

Adam watched her for a moment, tracing her dark scars with his eyes. She would never pass as a full-blooded human again after this, and he could understand the parallel she was drawing to her phazon corruption. Her face even resembled the way it had looked during the worst of the corruption, the main difference being that now her eyes still looked human even if they were more green than before. "I can't tell you what's going on inside your head, Lady. Only you know that. As far as bloodlust goes…" He hesitated, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to say. It felt odd to him to be at a loss for words around Samus. "As far as that goes, you've always had that side to you." He recalled the way he had seen her let completely loose on the Space Dragon she had mistaken for Ridley and how she had continued to shoot its body up with missiles long after it had died. "When you see red, Samus, you don't stop."

"So it's just me then." Her voice lacked any emotion as she leaned against the pilot's chair and stared at the ground.

"I can't say for certain," Adam said softly. "I know you've been through a lot this mission, and what Portia did to you… it was more than just murder." He paused. "Your reaction to her and the rage you've felt since you…  _woke up_ … it's not necessarily inhuman. But I can still see how it's disturbing to you. If anything, you've shown an incredible amount of restraint in the past day cycle. You stopped yourself from beating Silver Wing to death, and you spared Portia's life. And because of that we have someone we can use to get to the source of the corruption in the Federation."

"Then why do I feel like this?" She turned to face Adam fully and looked him in the eyes for the first time since entering the cockpit.

"I don't have all of the answers," he said softly as he came to stand beside Samus. "I don't think your hatred of Portia is irrational, but I do think the addition of the xenomorph DNA to your system is stressing you out more than you realize. This isn't something you can just shrug off and get back to business. It's going to take time to adjust."

"It frightens me," she admitted quietly.

Adam nodded. "It frightens me too."

The bounty hunter smirked in an almost impish manner. "You're frightened of me, General Malkovich?"

"Honestly?" he asked with a nervous chuckle. "I am. It's scary to watch this happening to you and know there's nothing I can do to help."

Samus leaned forward, and Adam gently wrapped his arms around her as she leaned on his chest for a moment. The General did his best to hide how much her weight hurt his bruised abdomen.

"You've helped plenty," she said as she took a moment to rest against her friend. "I don't think I could have gotten through this ordeal without you being so attentive."

Adam gently ran his hand through Samus's hair. This had been a difficult mission for both of them, and he knew she needed to rest. Her stress levels had been in dangerous territory for too long, and he wished he could just take the controls and fly them both away from this moon. But she still had a mission to complete and would never let that go unfinished. "When we get back to Earth," he said, still holding her and letting her rest for a moment, "we're taking you to a doctor. A real doctor who can work with your new upgrades and help you answer some of these questions. And we're going to find a good therapist so you can work through the rest of these issues. We'll do that together once we get to Earth, but until then, we still have one more thing to do here."

Samus nodded, straightening up and pulling away from Adam's embrace. "Right. We still need to rescue Ripley, Newt, Bishop, and Vasquez… assuming they're still alive."

Adam nodded. "That's right."

"And we can leave out all the rest until we get back to Earth." Samus smiled as a mischievous thought occurred to her. "We're going to crash your funeral Tom Sawyer style, aren't we?"

The General raised his eyebrows and stared at the mercenary. "Are you sure you want to go for something so dramatic?"

Samus smirked as she turned toward her pilot's chair. "We'll have more witnesses that way. And I'll be less tempted to break Harper's neck if people are watching."

Adam grimaced as he thought of showing up at his own funeral. "I can't even imagine what Marza and the girls are going through. They think I'm dead…"

"Maybe… I've been wondering if Hector didn't contact Abby at some point and let it out that I was here rescuing you guys."

The color suddenly drained from the General's face. "I hadn't even considered that."

Samus shrugged as she sat in her seat and the controls lit up. "They're teenagers in love. Did you really think Hector wouldn't have given her a call while he was cooped up alone on this ship all those hours?"

"Please don't talk about them like that… Abby's only sixteen. I try so hard not to think about her dating a boy."

Samus snickered. "You better get used to the idea sooner or later because you and I could end up being in-laws."

"Samus, seriously, stop."

The bounty hunter grinned. "What species do you think our grandkids will be?"

"Samus!" The General's face was flushed completely red as he glared at the mercenary. "They're teenagers for crying out loud! There will be no grandchildren for at least another twenty years. If they ever happen at all. Ever."

"Heh, fine. Have it your way." Samus smirked to herself as the engines roared to life and the ship began to ascend. "We can continue this conversation once we get back to Earth. Right now, our priority is picking up Ripley and the others and getting out of here!"

* * *

Ripley turned around and shone her flashlight across the room. As cold horror cluthed at her chest, she realized that she and Newt were standing right in the heart of the xenomorph nest, surrounded by black, leathery eggs. As she slowly looked about the room, she caught sight of the largest, most terrifying form she had ever seen.

Above them hung an absolutely massive xenomorph, it's long grotesque arms more numerous than any of the others and its head absolutely massive and fanned out in a way such that it looked like it were wearing a crown made of its same sleek black exoskeleton. Ripley set Newt on the ground slowly as she held her rifle firmly in both hands, and as the beast lowered its head, she found herself face to face with the absolutely massive xenomorph.

Slowly its head descended until its lower jaw dropped down revealing the second mouth filled with sharp silver teeth. As it regarded Ripley through its eyeless face, it opened its lower jaw and made the deepest, most primal hiss she had ever heard.

The little girl and the flight officer watched with dread as regular xenomorphs appeared on all sides and surrounded them, and they quickly realized that the giant creature in the center was the leader. And now they were trapped deep underground, barely armed and at the mercy of the Xenomorph Queen.

"Newt," Ripley said, her voice barely above a whisper, "stay behind me."

The little girl stepped backward toward where she had been ensnared in a slimy web only moments before, but her eyes never left the Queen looming above them.

Ripley held tight to her hybrid rifle, her heart racing and pounding in her throat as she and the massive xenomorph regarded one another. Coming off of the Queen's abdomen, she saw a long, organic tube that stretched several meters into the underground cave. She watched as something dark traveled down the long shaft, only to arrive at the other side and be carefully deposited upon the ground. Even as it watched her and Newt, the Queen was still laying more eggs. There were dozens in this area alone, and Ripley dreaded to think about the hundreds more that were probably ready to hatch and claim any human host unlucky enough to be around them.

As the regular xenomorphs drew in closer from both sides, Ripley could hear their hissing getting louder, and the stench of rotting flesh was almost suffocating. She knew if she didn't do something, she and Newt would either be dead or swarmed by facehuggers in a matter of moments. She didn't have much time to plan; she just needed to act.

In a stroke of desperation, Ripley shot her flamethrower into the air. The sudden blaze was enough to send the surrounding xenomorphs into a fit of chatters and screeches, but the Queen watched on silently.

"Tell them to back off," Ripley called out to the Queen as she took her hybrid rifle and aimed it at one of the large, leathery eggs.

The massive creature hissed suddenly as it regarded the child and the flight officer. After a moment of sizing up their threat, the Queen looked over to the other xenomorphs encroaching and ready to pounce. She made some screeching noises, and slowly, one by one, the other xenomorphs began to back away as she turned her attention back to Ripley.

The flight officer's hands were shaking as she held the pulse rifle still pointed at the leathery eggs, but as she realized the Queen had commanded the others to leave her alone, she slowly began to walk away, back toward where she had come from. Newt followed close to her heals as Ripley kept the rifle trained on each of the eggs as she passed. The Queen hissed angrily above her as the regular xenomorphs that has blocked their path stepped back to let her and Newt through.

Ripley found it amazing the length to which the Queen was willing to let her go just so she would spare her offspring, but she also knew that the moment she was out of range of the eggs, all bets were off. After what felt like an eternity of slowly backing away from the small army of xenomorphs, Ripley neared the edge of the nest, and she knew there was nothing she could do to protect herself once she was out of range. Her pulse rifle was not enough to put down even one of the xenomorphs without several direct shots, and the hologram on the elevator to her back was flickering in a way that suggested it was shorting out.

She did not need to think of a plan, however. As soon as she was close enough to even consider making a run for the elevator, one of the leathery eggs began to peel open. Within seconds, the leathery shell fell away and one of the crablike facehuggers made a leap toward Newt. Without even thinking about it, Ripley turned the rifle and shot it dead out of the air before it could get anywhere near the child. The Queen hissed angrily as several of the regular aliens began to rush forward, and Ripley knew there would be no more playing nice with these things.

Setting the flamethrower as high as it would go, she released a massive stream of fire out into the nest, setting nearly two dozen of the eggs ablaze as she emptied her fuel reserves straight into them. As they went up in flames, the Queen screamed, but the wall of fire created a barrier between the flight officer and the aliens. As the flames grew larger, they spread to more of the eggs and all along the wall that was still coated in the sticky web-like substance in which Newt had been ensnared.

"Run, Newt!" Ripley called out to the child over the screams of the aliens. Together, they turned and ran as fast as they could for the elevator. One of the double doors was missing, so they were able to slip into it easily as Ripley made a rush for the hologram.

To her surprise and relief, as she stepped onto the hologram, the elevator began to rise. It was not a fast ride, but she hugged Newt close to her as she kept her rifle pointed at the bottom of the car, knowing that at any second one of the xenomorphs could appear through the floor, climbing up the shaft and tearing the elevator car open. Her heart sank as the elevator stalled suddenly, the hologram going dark as she and Newt were trapped.

"No!" Ripley shouted as the child screamed. Within a moment, the hologram came back, however, and the flight officer stepped into it again as she heard the sound of screeching and hissing coming from the shaft below them. The elevator began to rise again, at a much quicker pace this time, although it never would seem quick enough for the flight officer as she imagined the creatures clawing their way up the shaft.

They were nearly to the top, and Ripley could see the light of the opening coming through the hole in the elevator car's ceiling when it stopped again. Ripley's breath caught in her throat as the elevator hologram suddenly flickered out and the car stopped dead again. She didn't have time to wait for it to come on, and it didn't seem like it would this time as the elevator jerked slightly downward before catching itself. Newt screamed, and the shaft was filled with the hissing of xenomorphs below them.

Without stopping to thing about it, Ripley lifted up the little girl and held her up to the hole in the roof of the car. "Climb up to the top and run!" she called after her as Newt crawled awkwardly through the hole and began climbing the ladder-like structure in the shaft. As the elevator jerked again, Ripley lost her balance and fell over. She hit the floor of the car hard and barely had time to react when a clawed hand shot up through it. With a gasp, she managed to roll away and get back onto her feet as the first of the xenomorph swarm tore through the floor.

Not missing a beat, the flight officer hopped to her feet and sent a volley of shots from her pulse rifle at the creature. It screamed as the blasts made contact, and it fell down into the shaft. Ripley knew there were more behind it, and as she hopped up to the hole in the ceiling of the car, sheer adrenaline allowed her to pull herself up and through it. Climbing onto the shaft ladder, she could hear more of the creatures tearing through the floor of the elevator car below her, and as they did, she saw the car jerk downward a third time. Taking stock of her limited ammo, she knew there was no way she could take out the aliens individually and opened fire on the ceiling of the elevator car.

After the first couple of shots, the elevator jerked downward again, and after several more, whatever force was holding the car up gave out entirely. With a cacophony of screams from the xenomorphs below it, the elevator car dropped suddenly and descended into a free fall down into the dark shaft. Ripley turned and climbed up the ladder as fast as she could before she her the car and the aliens hit the ground. It did not take her long to reach the top, and as she pulled herself up through the top elevator doors, she looked around for Newt.

But the little girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Newt?" she called as she raced out of the building and out onto the dark street. "Newt!"

Ripley searched frantically for the little girl, but she didn't have time to look long before she heard a loud banging coming from back in the building she had come from. The ground beneath her shook, and it didn't take long for the flight officer to realize what was happening. Something absolutely massive was crawling up from the depths of the earth, and whatever it was had likely climbed over its fallen brethren and was making its way up the elevator shaft.

 


	32. Clash of the Titans

The sound of some massive creature climbing up the elevator shaft thundered through the desolate remains of the Earth colony, and Ripley had only a split second to act before it would be too late. Still searching frantically for Newt, she ran back to the dilapidated building as quickly as she could. Without even fully processing what she was doing, she pulled the grenade from the pocket of her pants as the elevator shaft came into view. The little girl was nowhere to be seen, but she still could not take any chances of setting off the grenade in the building.

As she reached the opening to the elevator shaft, she only had time to hear the inhuman screeching of the massive Queen xenomorph before she chucked the grenade through the broken doors and into the darkness below. Turning to run, she could hear it clattering against walls on the way down, and she forced herself to sprint as fast as her legs would carry her. Still, she barely made it out of the small building before she heard the massive explosion and felt it rattle the world around her. She nearly fell over but managed to stay on her feet, clutching the hybrid rifle close to her as she ran.

There were a lot of other abandoned buildings around her, and she knew Newt could be in any one of them. But so could the aliens.

"Newt!" she called out, looking around for any sign of life, but her shouts were drowned out by the explosion and rattling earth. She didn't know if the blast would be enough to take out the massive queen, but she had a feeling it wasn't.

As if on cue, the shrill screams of the massive beast tore through the air, and Ripley could feel the bile rise up in her throat. The grenade may have slowed it down, but it was still coming. Before it could see her, Ripley picked a random building and ran for it. There was no door on the little gray structure, and an old trail of slime ran through it, but at this point she was more willing to deal with one of the regular xenomorphs than with the gigantic Queen. She only hoped Newt had managed to escape and find a way to safety like she normally did.

Once inside the building, Ripley turned on the light of her hybrid rifle and walked quickly down the hall. A jolt of excitement hit her as she realized luck was finally throwing her a bone. She'd ended up in an armory. Outside, she could hear the sounds of the Queen still screeching, and she was certain the alien was out of the shaft and walking around the streets. Fortunately, Ripley was so far inside the building, she was well hidden.

Quietly and quickly, she moved through a cache of weapons she found. They weren't locked. The room itself was a mess as though someone had busted into it at one point, taken whatever guns they could get their hands on, and run out in a hurry without locking it back up. Given the way the aliens had destroyed the colony, she was sure that was exactly what had happened.

The first thing she did was replace the fuel in her flamethrower. It might not have been the most high-tech weapon in the arsenal, but it had been the most effective at repelling the aliens. Next, she found some more ammo for her pulse rifle. It was not the same as what had original been in it, but she recognized it and knew it packed more of a punch. She stuffed her pockets full of grenades, slung a second rifle over her back, and holstered a couple of handguns to her hips. Even armed to the teeth, it was doubtful she would be able to take on the Queen xenomorph, but she hoped she had enough to protect herself enough to get away and continue her search for Newt once it was safer.

She quickly discarded that plan, however, once she heard the screams coming from outside. They weren't the screams of the alien monsters she had been fighting; it was the scream of a young child.

"Newt!" she shouted, abandoning weapons room and sprinting outside as quickly as possible. She could feel her heart pointing in her throat, her breathing coming rapidly as she forced herself forward as quickly as possible with every ounce of strength her body possessed.

As she got onto the streets outside, she could see the massive form of the alien Queen, some of the spines on its back missing, clearly having been blown off by the grenade. The child was nowhere to be seen as the Queen turned to look at Ripley and hissed through its silvery teeth. Another scream from Newt let Ripley know the child was still alive, even if she was out of sight. Rage welled up in the flight officer as she ran headlong toward the Queen, firing off a barrage of shots from her pulse rifle.

"GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU BITCH!" she screamed as she rained fire on the alien, trying to drive it back from Newt.

The alien screamed as it took a couple of steps back, roaring and hissing at the human who was rushing at it.

"Ripley!" a small voice called out, and before she knew what was happening, Ripley found herself standing directly in between the child and queen, her finger still pulling the trigger and firing at the beast.

The Queen screamed again and tried to take a swipe at Ripley, but the flight officer set forth a blast from her flamethrower. As the fire filled the air, the alien took several steps backward, hissing all the while as it did so.

"Run, Newt!" the flight officer called out to the child, and the girl did not need to be told twice. Silent as a ghost, the child disappeared into one of the buildings as Ripley shot more flames at the Queen, trying to distract it.

Ripley was about to turn and run after the child, but the girl's scream rang out, and she turned to see Newt running toward her, followed out of the abandoned building by a second alien. It was only a regular xenomorph, but Ripley felt her pulse speed up. As Newt made it to her and wrapped her arms around Ripley's leg, the flight officer shot off another stream of flame at the Queen and pivoted to catch the newcomer in her blast. Both aliens screamed, but as Ripley took a step back toward an alley between two buildings, she saw a third alien heading right for them.

She fired her pulse rifle at it, and while she blew a few chunks off of it, it still kept coming, and several more appeared behind it. As she looked back to the Queen, the massive alien made a sound in its throat Ripley could only conceptualize as an evil chuckle as a full army of xenomorphs appeared, coming from all sides, many of them flanking their queen. As Newt clung tightly to her leg, Ripley knew they were surrounded and severely outnumbered, but if she were going down, it would be fighting.

She was about to open fire again on the alien swarm but hesitated as she heard an explosion in the distance toward the back of the aliens' ranks. The world became a cacophony of alien screams as all of them, including the Queen turned back to look at the blast. Overhead, a golden orange ship flew over the horde, and Ripley recognized it immediately as the one Samus had flown out of the rubble when they had been searching for her son. A tiny hope flickered through the flight officer as she watched a black armor-clad figure emerge from the ship and spray the xenomorph horde with missiles as it jumped into the fray.

* * *

Samus didn't hesitate the moment she saw the xenomorph horde on the move. Throwing her ship into autopilot, she activated her powersuit as she fired one of the onboard missiles straight toward the rear of their ranks. The blast hit with a massive explosion, throwing dozens of the skeletal aliens in all directions and stopping them in their tracks as they all looked to the source of the blast. But Samus didn't see that part. As soon as she had fired off the missile, she was up and out of her pilot's seat, rushing toward the back of her ship toward the hatch.

She ignored the calls of Adam and Hector as she ran through the cabin, into the medical bay, and straight to the hatch. Within seconds, she was on top of her ship, balancing on it as it flew over the alien swarm. With the bird's eye view, it did not take her long to spot Ripley and Newt at the center of the convergence, face to face with a massive alien Samus could only guess was the xenomorph Queen itself.

Without hesitation, the bounty hunter leapt from her ship straight into the swarm, firing a barrage of super missiles into it as she dropped. Acidic blood sprayed in all directions as chunks of xenomorph flew through the air. Once she was on the ground, Samus kept up the volley of missiles, blasting apart the aliens closest to her as she cut a swath through their ranks. She knew she was not close enough for any of the blood to hit Ripley or the child, but it burned through the ground like paper and coated Samus as she charged forward toward the trapped humans and the xenomorph Queen. The bounty hunter was just thankful to find that acid no longer had any effect on her suit, rolling off of the black and silver armor like rainwater as she continued her assault.

As she got closer to the center of the mass, Samus switched to the plasma beam, only firing off shots dead ahead of her now as she made a run for Ripley and the child. It made for a faster rush through the swarm, but it left her open on all other sides, and the aliens did not hesitate to take swipes at the bounty hunter as she ran by. But despite the flurry of claws and bites that assailed her, the armor held up, no longer weakened by the acidic blood. Still, Samus noted her energy tanks dropping rapidly, particularly as several of the creatures rushed her all at once and nearly threw the bounty hunter to the ground.

But she was ready for them, and as three xenomorphs charged and tried to grab onto her, Samus leapt up into the air, tucking her head and going into a forward flip. As she did so, an electrical field of energy formed around her. She flew forward in her flip multiple times in a row, defying gravity as she went into the full effect of her Screw Attack combined with the space jump technique. The thrusters on her back worked overtime as the forcefield around her tore through the surrounding xenomorphs like a buzz saw.

Xenomorph screams filled the air, but as effective as the attack was, Samus knew she could not keep it up forever. As she sensed herself getting close to where Ripley and Newt had been, she unrolled from her mid-air flip just in time to come face to face with the alien Queen. All attention was focused on her now, the biggest threat to the xenomorph species. As she came out of her Screw Attack, she was certain she had seen Ripley and Newt escape into one of the buildings behind them while the aliens were distracted.

The massive Queen roared and swiped at Samus as the bounty hunter landed in front of her, but she nimbly dodged the attack and returned fire with a spray of plasma. Several of the smaller xenomorphs jumped in the way of their Queen, taking the brunt of the attack so she wouldn't have to. In the same moment, several xenomorphs rushed Samus, striking her painfully from behind. The bounty hunter stumbled forward, and the horde took advantage of the sign of weakness, coming at her from all sides. It wasn't long before several of the creatures pinned her to the ground and piled on, screaming and slashing at her as they did so. Samus found herself face down and being buried under a pile of the aliens as her suit flashed warnings at her.

But she didn't panic. Try as they might, they had not managed to breach her armor yet, and somehow she managed to wriggle just free enough to curl up and collapse her body into the morphball. Under the pile of aliens, she laid the single most destructive weapon in her arsenal, the power bomb, and waited three seconds as the blast went off.

The bomb's explosion was unlike the missiles, and as its white-hot light enveloped the surrounding area, the xenomorphs closest to her were completely incinerated within seconds. And as that happened, Samus was back on her feet, her suit protecting her from the bomb's blast. As she got up, she charged up another plasma shot, letting it go with a volley of missiles and creating the frighteningly powerful flamethrower effect she had unleashed on the aliens the other times they had swarmed her. Unlike the flames of Ripley's flamethrower, the ones Samus's cannon produced were a concentrated plasma stream, and they instantly incinerated any part of the xenomorphs they came into contact with.

The aliens began to scream and retreat as Samus rushed forward toward the Queen. The massive alien monarch was the only one that stood its ground as the bounty hunter came for it. Samus was about to fire off another plasma blast as the Queen's clawed arm reached out and swiped her across her abdomen. Not quick enough to dodge the attack, the bounty hunter was thrown into the walls of a nearby building as her suit flashed warnings about an armor breach. Shrugging off the pain easily, the bounty hunter was back on her feet in time to avoid another strike by the Queen. As she leapt to dodge, Samus rolled forward into another Screw Attack, striking the Queen full-on as she unrolled and charged another plasma beam, firing a flamethrower stream straight into the Queen's eyeless face.

The sounds of the grotesque alien's death throes were disturbing as its body flailed about, lashing out wildly at all angles. Still Samus persisted with the stream of flame until the creature was so charred it was unrecognizable, and then the bounty hunter filled the crispy corpse with missile blasts until it crumbled into dust before her. Their Queen defeated, the other xenomorphs all retreated from the figure in the metallic black armor, running wildly in all directions.

Samus didn't bother trying to pick any of them off as they went, instead turning her attention to the building into which Ripley and Newt had run. Cannon still raised and her attention on high alert, she followed them into the dark structure. It didn't take her long to find them huddled into a corner, the child in the flight officer's arms as she held a pulse rifle out pointed straight at Samus. The bounty hunter noticed the felled bodies of a couple of the aliens and realized Ripley must have taken them out as she had fought the Queen outside.

"S-samus?" Ripley managed to call out to her after a moment. "Is that really you?"

Her mind still fully locked into battle-mode, the bounty hunter found it difficult to articulate anything and just nodded instead.

Pausing and staring for a moment in disbelief, Ripley looked her up and down before stepping forward, still holding tightly to Newt. "I thought you were dead… That's what Portia said anyway."

Samus shook her head as she held her left hand out to beckon Ripley to follow her. The flight officer hesitated for a moment but eventually did. As they stepped outside, the orange and gold ship flew closer toward them, coming for a landing out on the desolate street and blowing away chunks of bloody debris and alien parts as it did so. Newt pressed herself close to Ripley's body as the ship kicked up the dust, but all three of them were able to approach it safely once it finished landing.

Without warning, the bounty hunter scooped up both the flight officer and the child as she leapt up to the top of her ship with them and placed them on the hatch. Ripley stared at her in shock, and Newt looked shaken, but Samus ignored them as the hatch lowered them all into the medical bay. The armored cyborg gestured for them to follow her as she led them out into the cabin.

Adam and Hector jumped to their feet and stared in awe as Samus led the flight officer and the little girl into the cabin. Ripley and Newt looked around, suddenly glad to see the familiar faces, but the girl didn't let go of the flight officer's hand as they went forward.

"Lady?" Adam called as Samus walked past him wordlessly and into the cockpit, leaving Ripley and Newt behind. The bounty hunter ignored them all as she headed for the ship's controls.

"Where are you going?" Ripley called out to her, ignoring Adam and Hector as well as she followed the bounty hunter into the cockpit.

Still fully armored, Samus sat down in her pilot's seat as the control panel lit up and the engines roared to life.

"I'm getting us the fuck off of this rock," the bounty hunter retorted, her voice deepened by the suit's synthesizers.

"Not yet," Ripley said, putting a hand on the hunter's arm as her visor turned to look at her. "We need to go back for Bishop."

Samus stared at her skeptically, her expression invisible behind the opaque visor. "You want me to go back out there to pick up a robot?"

"He's not just a robot," Ripley insisted, her hand still firmly on Samus's forearm. "He's an artificial person, and he saved my life."

The bounty hunter regarded her quietly for a moment before shrugging her hand off. "Whatever."

Punching a few buttons, Samus had the ship scan the surrounding area for any trace of the android's signal. It didn't take long for a weak code to appear on the screen, and Samus got up and left the cockpit, heading toward the hatch. She was not gone from the ship for more than five minutes before she came back carrying the android's head under her left arm like it was a football.

Ripley looked on in horror as Samus nonchalantly set the head onto her coffee table and took a step back to look at it.

"What happened to him?" the flight officer demanded as she looked up at Samus.

The bounty hunter shrugged, still in her armor as she, her son, Archer, and the three humans all stood staring at the severed head bleeding a milky white liquid all over the coffee table. "Scans indicate that the brain is still intact," she said after a moment. "I can pick up some parts over on Aliehs III and fix him up if you want."

Ripley stared up at her. "You can do that?"

Samus shrugged again. "If I could build this ship, fixing up an android should be easy enough, especially with the brain still intact. That's the only part I wouldn't know how to construct. Now," she continued, looking around to everyone else in the room, "if there are no more objections, I'm getting us the fuck off of this moon."

"Where are we going from here?" Ripley asked as Samus stepped through the door into the cockpit.

"Earth," the bounty hunter replied, turning back to look at her. "We've got a funeral to crash."

 


	33. The Dreaded Return to Earth

Samus regarded herself her bedroom mirror as she finished pulling her hair up into a low tube sock bun. It had been a long time since she had given her long, blonde hair so much attention, but when she had gotten dressed that morning, she had thought it looked very wild and unprofessional. That's what she had tried to tell herself anyway, concluding that pulling it into a tight, motionless bun was the best solution. As she stared at her reflection, she looked over her whole body.

Her hair was perfect. Her black pantsuit was simple but serious looking, and her black shoes were appropriately shined. Her white dress shirt was pressed to perfection, and as she tied her black tie, she thought she looked like she could have been a Councilwoman or a barrister.

Except for her face. There was no getting around what her face looked like now with its long black scars and the bizarre green tint to her eyes. Most of her scars were hidden beneath her clothing, and even her strangely colored nails could pass as polished, but there was no hiding her face. Looking around her room, she noted the rows of rifles on the walls and felt suddenly very out of place, as though she were dressing up in the costume of someone else. It felt very surreal to her as she picked up her makeup brushes and tried in vain to hide the black lines.

Her ship was parked in a privately owned docking port on Earth, not far from where Adam's funeral was being held in a couple of hours. Ripley, Newt, Hector, and Adam were all out in her ship's cabin, but it was so terribly cramped in there, Samus had retreated to her bedroom to shower and get ready. The plan was for her to attend the funeral as though she believed the General were actually dead and scope out the place. Once she gave the signal, Adam would show up and crash it along with Ripley and Newt. That was the plan anyway. Real or not, however, getting ready for Adam's funeral filled Samus with a macabre dread, and she was not sure how she would react to actually being present for it. Simply put, she had been to too many funerals in her life and was not looking forward to this one.

She gave up on the make-up, setting its small bag onto the end table beside the wall-mounted full-body mirror. There was nothing she could do to make herself look even remotely normal, and it wasn't worth trying anymore. If anyone asked about her face, she would just tell them she had been poisoned or something. Not that she really expected many people to try talking to her.

There was one thing left that she had to do before the funeral, and it was the thing she had been dreading ever since she had set a course for Earth. If she were being honest with herself, she would have rather fought five more xenomorph Queens than go and do what she was about to do. But there was no way around it. She had to take her son back to his father and try to find some way to explain why they had mysteriously vanished for about a week after she had promised she was bringing the boy straight home. Somehow, she got the feeling Jack would be less than amused to find out she had taken their child to a hostile alien moon filled with acid bleeding monsters and lethal experimental bioweapons.

With a deep breath, the bounty hunter straightened her tie and opened her door. As she stepped out into her small, crowded living room, all eyes turned to look at her.

"Damn," Ripley said, raising her eyebrows as she looked Samus up and down. "You really clean up well."

The bounty hunter half smiled as she looked over to the flight officer. "I'm going to the funeral of a prominent general and my former commanding officer. I can't very well show up covered in blood and entrails, looking like I just crawled out of my own grave." She hadn't forgotten how shocked the other woman had looked when they were all back on her ship and she had deactivated the power suit. Her face had very obviously made Ripley and Newt uncomfortable, and she was sure it still did. Not that she could blame them. After what they had just been through, she wasn't sure how they were coping so well with being around someone with xenomorph DNA in her system.

"Well for what it's worth," Adam said, standing up from the couch and approaching her, "I think you look very handsome."

"Heh." Samus cast her eyes off to the side. "I guess you're the only one I need to impress. It's your funeral, after all."

"Indeed." The General nodded solemnly. "Are you sure you're all right with doing this? I know it won't exactly be easy."

The bounty hunter shrugged. "Just don't go and get yourself killed for real, and I'll be okay."

"Noted," he replied.

"If you want to get ready, you can use my room and bathroom. I figure you probably want to look your best when you come back from the dead… hopefully better than I looked. I've got to run the kid back to his father and hope he doesn't try to have me arrested for kidnapping."

Adam nodded. "I don't envy you that."

"I don't think Dad will do that," Hector said as he walked over to his mother. He didn't seem bothered by the way she looked now, but Samus knew he was a little nervous around her in general lately.

"I hope not," Samus said with a sad smile. She didn't say anything, but she knew that even if he didn't try to have her arrested, Jack had full custody of her son, and she had never even asked for visitation rights. There was a good chance he would never want her to see the boy again, and there wasn't much in the way of legal recourse for her to fight that, especially given that her relationship to him was still a secret.

She ruffled the boy's hair playfully as they bid farewell to the humans and headed for her ship's hatch. Once they were out of the ship, it didn't take long to summon an automated taxi and have it drive them to Jack and Hector's house. Samus could feel a knot in her stomach getting tighter the closer they got. She didn't want to bring the boy back to his father and risk never seeing him again, but she also knew it was the right thing to do. After all, Jack had raised their son for fifteen years on his own, fully supportive of the fact that Samus had not thought it was safe to be a part of the boy's life. She had only met him for the first time a few weeks ago, and now she wondered if she had made the right choice in doing that. Ultimately, he probably would be safer if she never saw him again.

As the cab pulled up in front of the small but well-kept suburban house, Samus wanted to melt backwards into her seat and disappear. It had not been her fault that the boy had stolen his father's credit card and run off to space looking for her, but she had promised to bring him home and then taken him to LV-426 instead. The only silver lining was that she was bringing him home alive since that very easily might not have ended up being the case.

Hector got out of the car first and began walking toward the front door, stopping to wait for his mother as she slowly exited the car and followed him. He could tell she didn't want to be there but was still surprised that she was taking her time the way she was. Samus knew she should probably hurry up, but there was still some damage to her abdomen where the Queen's claws had cut through her armor in the final battle. It was not a very serious injury, but it was enough to hurt when she moved and breathed. She suspected she may have fractured a rib as well in that fight, but pain was nothing she wasn't used to. The only thing that worried her was moving the wrong way and accidently tearing the abdominal wound back open. She could not afford to start bleeding acid here or at the funeral. Not to mention, she really didn't want to have to buy a new suit.

Once Samus joined him on the doorstep, Hector rang the doorbell and looked over at the bounty hunter. She put a hand reassuringly on his shoulder, although she thought she was probably the more nervous of the two. It didn't take long before the knob turned and the door opened to reveal a very surprised looking Jack Fields.

"Hey Dad," the boy said sheepishly, a guilty look on his face like a cat that had just swallowed the family bird. "I'm back."

Jack stared in silent shock for a moment. His face looked exhausted, and the few steaks of grey in his light brown hair seemed more prominent than before. His normally clean-shaven face was dotted with stubble, and his soft green eyes were bloodshot as though he had not slept in a long time.

"Hector?" he managed after a moment. "You're home… Where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick about you! Do you know how many times I called the police?"

"He was with me, Jack." Samus stared at her child's father, her face stoic and impassive. "Don't be mad at him."

Jack's surprised expression changed to one of anger as he glared at Samus. "Hector, go inside," he said, never taking his eyes off of the bounty hunter.

"Dad," the boy pleaded, "don't be mad at Samus…"

"Inside. Now."

Hector glanced at Samus one more time, silently apologizing with his eyes. "I'll see you later, Mom. I love you."

Samus smiled softly at her son. "I love you too, kid." Once he disappeared into the house, her face was blank once more.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jack asked, staring her down. "You told me you were bringing him home. That was days ago. Do you have any idea what it was like calling the police and telling them I thought Samus Aran had kidnapped my son? They laughed at me and hung up and then laughed me out of the station! I've been worried sick! You couldn't call or text or anything?"

"I'm sorry, Jack," the bounty hunter said softly, trying to suppress the rage she could feel welling up inside of her. "I honestly thought he would do that while he waited for me on the ship."

Jack raised his eyebrows as he stared at her. "Waited for you? Don't tell me you took our son to some alien planet and abandoned him while you played with jellyfish or whatever it is you do!"

It was Samus's turn to raise her eyebrows as she glared back. "Played with jellyfish? What exactly do you think my missions entail?"

"That's not important." Jack shook his head. "You put our son in danger. You lied to me. You kept it a secret and didn't answer my calls. Do you have any idea what's been happening here? General Malkovich was killed while you were both gallivanting around the galaxy!"

"I'm not an idiot, Jack," Samus bit back, her patience growing thin. "Why do you think I'm dressed like this? I didn't just wake up in the morning and say 'gee, it looks like a fine day to wear a pantsuit!' I'm on my way to his funeral! And before you ask, yes, the mission I was on was directly related to that!"

"So what you're saying is you took our son somewhere really dangerous."

"Yes, Jack. I took our son somewhere really dangerous. With aliens that wanted to eat him and use him as a host to gestate their young. It was so dangerous that I actually died and had to find some way back from the dead just to come here and get a lecture from you."

"Funny, Samus." Jack continued to glare at her, but it seemed to soften slightly. "I guess you can't really tell me what this mission entailed, can you?"

Samus shook her head. "Not now. Maybe later, after the funeral."

"Just answer one question. Did you save whoever you needed to save or the galaxy or whatever? Did taking our son there actually help anyone?"

Samus smiled softly. "Yes. I saved two adult humans and a little girl. And a synthetic, who I hear is one hell of a chess player."

"And Hector is…  _okay_?"

The bounty hunter nodded. "I protected him with my life."

Jack nodded. "And are you okay? Your face looks a little—"

"Horrifying?"

"I was going to say it looks like you were poisoned or something."

"As far as I know, it's not going to kill me. I'm just… ugly."

Jack shook his head. "You're not ugly, Sam."

The bounty hunter shrugged. "Good looks aren't necessary for the job."

"I mean it." He smiled a bit. "I don't think it's any secret that I've always found you attractive. I think the scars bring out a little bit of that wild side of yours. They sort of compliment that natural handsomeness you have."

Samus's mouth twitched as she shrugged. "You knock that off, Jack Fields. Remember what happened last time you tried flirting with me?"

He chuckled as he looked her up and down. "I like the suit. You've got this dashing lesbian Disney prince look going on."

Samus could feel her cheeks getting slightly warm, but she smiled. "I don't know what you mean by that, but cut it out."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I know flirting should be the last thing on my mind, and I should be mad at you, but I guess I'm just happy he's home and in one piece."

"Well, you know as long as I'm still breathing, I refuse to let any harm come to that boy. And you know I'm a force to be reckoned with."

Jack nodded as he looked down and then back up again. "You want to come inside? I have to shave and get ready for the General's funeral."

Samus shook her head. "I'm still sort of on the clock. This mission isn't over yet, but I wanted to get the boy home before anything else could happen."

"Fair enough."

Samus nodded as she turned to walk away, but stopped and looked back at her son's father. "Just a quick question."

"Sure."

"Lesbian Disney prince? Really?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm tired, Sam."

"What planet is 'Disney' and why do they still have a monarchy?"

It took Jack a moment to realize she was seriously asking, and he laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'll explain it next time you're over here."

The bounty hunter smiled. "So you're not having me arrested for kidnapping? Or getting a restraining order?"

"No plans to at the moment, but let's try not to make this a regular thing…"

Samus grinned. "Noted."

 


	34. In a Crowded Room

To say that Samus disliked funerals was an understatement; she loathed them. She had been to more than her fair share over the years, but the people about whom she had cared most had never been given the honor of a ceremonial ritual. Their bodies had simply rotted away in the destruction of K-2L and Zebes, not so much as a stick to mark their final resting places. She had always assumed she would end up much the same way, struck down on some mission, expiring in a dank cavern, no one knowing exactly where or when her last moments were. They were morbid thoughts, but they were ones she had often.

She knew Adam was not dead. That and the fact that she had a mission to complete were the only things that stopped her from turning around and walking out of the funeral parlor. There was a large crowd of people, many in formal military dress, and it made her uncomfortable to be around them. The reception was held in a massive room that she thought could have been an auditorium aside from the fact that it was decorated in a very homey fashion. Rows of stadium seating lined the two longest walls, and a simple but decorated memorial sat in the center of the room.

The bounty hunter didn't bother going to see the memorial. Instead, she hung out along the peripheries with her back to a wall, trying to get a read on the guests in attendance. The recognized a few prominent figures like Admiral Dane and Secretary of Defense Green. To her displeasure, she even caught sight of General Harper not far off, and it took all of her willpower not to storm over and punch the other woman in the face. Chairman Keaton was in attendance, protected by large human bodyguards on all sides. He caught a glimpse of Samus in the distance and eyed her curiously but did not bother to approach her. She could tell he was looking at the new lines on her face, and it made her feel a little more self-conscious.

Keaton was not the only one staring at her though. Many of the fully human guests in attendance looked at her with curiosity or disdain, most not recognizing her but being able to sense immediately that she was not human. And it was definitely a very human-heavy crowd. As visible as her facial marks were, she wondered if she should have worn her hair down and tried to hide them rather than pulling it back and leaving her face on full display.

Samus recognized a few of the soldiers she had served with when she had been in the Army what felt like a lifetime ago. Several of them wore heavily decorated coats or had insignia displaying their high ranks. It felt odd to her to be standing amongst them again, her old comrades, without any rank or uniform, just a suit she kept in the back of her closet for any occasion that required something a little dressier than a pair of blue jeans.

After a few minutes of searching, she spotted the people she was looking for. Adam's wife, Marza, was standing with their two daughters, Abridgette and Evianna, over by a water cooler. Marza looked exhausted as she spoke to one person after another, walking up to her with what Samus was sure were the best of intentions but not realizing how overwhelming their sheer numbers could be. Evianna stood quietly beside her mother while Abridgette appeared to be texting someone Samus could only assume was Hector.

She watched them from a distance for a few minutes before deciding to make her way over to them. They seemed to be in so much pain, she hated that she was essentially lying to them by not revealing that the General was still alive, but she couldn't risk them being in on the secret and their enemies finding out. Samus was starting to walk over to them when she felt a hand grab her shoulder.

Her heart jolting, she whirled around, forcefully knocking the hand off of her and having to restrain herself from punching the tall woman standing behind her.

"A little jumpy aren't you, Aran?" asked the woman as she stared at Samus disdainfully. Dressed in an Army General's formal navy blue coat, she was one of the only women Samus had ever met in her life who was taller than she was. Standing at nearly six and a half feet, General Harper wore simple makeup on her pale face and had her brown hair pinned back under her formal hat. She looked about the same age as Adam but her high, prominent cheekbones gave her a sharp look that was only further enforced by her piercing green eyes.

"Good afternoon, General Harper," Samus said as politely as she could muster given how her adrenaline was pumping and she was still fighting the urge to punch her. "It's nice to see you again."

Harper half-smirked as she stared at the bounty hunter. "It's been a long time since I've actually had a chance to speak to the notorious Samus Aran. I remember back when you were still serving under General Malkovich but the details escape me. What was your rank again?"

Samus glared at her, lacking the patience for passive-aggressive small talk. "Private."

"Right," the General said with a fake sweetness. "Private First Class."

"No," Samus said quietly. "Just Private."

"Ah, yes. I remember now," she continued coolly. "You were never really the best match for the military. Lucky you faked falling ill when you did and were able to swing that medical discharge. You were a hair's breath away from being kicked out altogether. That was good planning on your part, Aran. I think you had General Malkovich convinced there was something actually wrong with you."

Samus didn't say anything as she continued to glare up at General Harper. She preferred the General to think she had faked an illness in order to get a discharge. The truth was that Adam had helped her get discharged when she had become pregnant with Hector, but those records had been destroyed long ago, and she had no intention of letting Harper know that.

"I feel bad for you, Aran," Harper said, taking a step closer to the younger woman and intentionally using her height to look down on her. She lowered her voice as she leaned in closer. "It's so sad when a dog outlives its master."

Before she knew what she was doing, Samus found her forearm across General Harper's chest as she rammed her backward and pinned the very tall woman against a wall. She did it so quickly and quietly that no one turned to look at her.

"Look, bitch," the bounty hunter said quietly through gritted teeth as she pressed heavily on the other woman's chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. "I am really done with your shit. I'm not even going to explain to you what I've been through in the past week alone, but I will tell you this: I am not someone you want as your enemy. You may enjoy making all your little jokes about how I'm the Federation's lapdog or General Malkovich's bitch or whatever else you want, but I don't care. At the end of the day I am still a woman who has hunted down the most cunning and vile organisms in the known universe and killed them without batting an eye. I've infiltrated some of the most heavily guarded bases of the Space Pirate War and singlehandedly taken them down.

"And honestly, if I were you, I would seriously consider laying off of me right now because I am not in a good mood, and I am standing at my best friend's funeral. The last thing I want to hear right now is you making condescending comments about him or me. And you can make a scene and get my ass thrown out of here if you really want to, but just know that for the rest of your life, and believe me it will be a short life, I will know exactly where you are, what you're doing, and who you are with. And when the moment is right, when I decide it's right, I will appear without warning and kill you in the most painful and horrific fashion without leaving any trace that I had been there at all. Because I can do that. I blow up fucking planets. Do you really want to start with me right now?"

Harper stared back at her silently. The taller woman was clearly trying to keep her face blank, but there were signs of fear showing around her eyes. The chattering of the crowd around them drowned out both of their words, and Harper made no effort to call any attention to her plight. "You're insane, Aran."

"Damn right I am," the bounty hunter whispered to her, increasing the pressure on the other woman's chest as she did so. "Insane enough to actually follow through on that threat so you should remember that."

When Harper made no sign of trying to resist, Samus backed away slowly and released her from the wall. It took the other woman a moment to catch her breath as she kept her eyes fixed on Samus.

"This isn't over, Aran," she said quietly, straightening her coat. "You may be strong, but you have no real power in the Federation. You're reckless and impulsive. Someday you are going to mess up, and once the force of law is against you, I'm going to have your ass in a special military prison so fast you won't know what hit you. There are worse things than death, Aran. And once the new regime comes in, all you have to do is put one toe out of line or destroy one measly little research lab, and I will see to it that the Federation shows you hell like you've never known it."

Samus smirked. "Not if you're there first."

Harper was about to retort when a voice boomed suddenly from the center of the room. The facilitator was telling everyone it was time to take a seat so the ceremony could begin. The General and the mercenary glared at one another for a few more seconds before going their separate ways. Samus looked around for any sign of Adam's family, but she could not find them now in the moving crowd. Not sure how much longer she would be able to keep her cool in the crowded room, she ducked out quietly and went to stand outside.

It was a nice day. The sun was shining, and it was warm with the approaching summer season. Samus did not know much about Earth seasons, but she had noticed a general increase in average daily temperatures during her stay on the planet. Taking a few breaths and trying to calm herself, the bounty hunter leaned against the wall of the single-story building that looked almost like a house from outside. She tried to get her heart rate and adrenaline levels down, but the efforts were in vain. Being at the funeral was bad enough, but Harper coming up behind her had really pushed her into a fight or flight mode. She instantly regretted assaulting and threatening a prominent General, knowing that in the long run she had probably only made things worse for herself and Adam. Still, she was just thankful she had not maimed or killed the other woman in the heat of the moment. Manslaughter was not on her to-do list for today.

Despite her failing efforts to properly compose herself, Samus sent a text message to Adam through the holoscreen of her watch to tell him it was time to make his grand entrance. He responded quickly, and she waited a few more moments before going back inside. She couldn't get her heart rate down and the stench of humans was filling her senses and aggravating her in a way she had never felt before. There was a hot rage within her, and she could feel her hard nails digging into the palm of her hand. She only unclenched her fist when she realized she was actually bleeding, and as she opened her palm to look at it, a couple of drops of blood fell from it and scorched the floor of the entryway.

Her heart pounding in her ears, everything felt surreal as she watched the wisps of steam rise up from the ground. Though it was only one room over, the voice of the man reading a sermon sounded miles away. Samus knew something was wrong, and she was having a very hard time trying to ground herself in the current moment as her breaths started to come quickly. She could still hear people chattering in hushed voices even though she was not sure they were anymore, but those voices quickly became a cacophony of chattering screeches, and she could hear the sounds of an approaching xenomorph swarm.

Samus put a hand to her chest as she tried to control her breathing but it was coming too quickly as images of the swarm flickered before her eyes. She tried to force herself to walk back into the room where the ceremony was going on, but she felt a sudden sharp pain in her chest as she struggled to breathe at all. As she leaned back against the wall, she found herself gagging as she saw their claws reaching out at her. Within moments, she found herself falling to her hands and knees as she hunched over the ground and began dry heaving.

The whole incident could not have lasted more than a minute, but as she began to regain control, she realized she was shaking and starting to sweat. She took a few moments to ground herself, breathing slowly and deeply as she felt the cool tile floor under her palms.

"I'd ask if you're all right," a woman's voice called out suddenly, "but I don't think that would be very helpful."

The bounty hunter tensed as she looked up, half expecting to see Harper until she realized there was a hint of an accent to the woman's words. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at the woman kneeling beside her. It took a few seconds, but she quickly recognized her. Dressed in a simple black dress with long sleeves made of lace, the woman had tan olive skin and thick black hair pinned back in a simple bun. Her round brown eyes were soft as she looked down at Samus with concern and slowly extended a very realistic looking but robotic right arm.

"E-Elisa?" Samus asked, looking up at the human woman in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are," Elisa said softly. "Paying my respects to General Malkovich. I didn't know him long, but he was a good man and I thought I'd do the right thing."

Samus slowly tried to force herself upright into a kneeling position. "How did you know I was out here? Did anyone else see?"

Elisa shook her head. "No, just me. I saw you talking to that really tall woman and then ducking out after. When you didn't come back I decided to come investigate. I guess I made the right choice."

Samus looked at her for a moment before she nodded. "I suppose you did." Reluctantly, she took Elisa's outstretched hand and allowed her to help her to her feet.

Standing, Samus was roughly a foot taller than Elisa, and though the smaller woman was also athletically built, she had a soft curviness about her. The bounty hunter found herself suddenly thankful that Elisa had found her.

"Any better?" Elisa asked as Samus straightened her tie.

The bounty hunter nodded. "I'm really glad to see you again. I honestly didn't expect to run into you here."

Elisa laughed. "Don't underestimate me, Samus Aran. Did you really think I'd miss the General's funeral? If nothing else, I wanted to be here for you…"

Samus could feel her cheeks getting warm as she stepped forward and reached out with both arms. Hugging her close, Samus pulled the other woman into her chest, and Elisa wrapped her arms around the bounty hunter's waist.

"Thank you," Samus said softly. "I really mean that. Seeing you is probably the only good thing that's happened at all in the past week. I mean it. I've been on Earth now, what… like five hours? And I've already committed what I'm pretty sure is a felony and almost vomited all over the entryway."

"Hmm," Elisa softly hummed with a note of amusement. "Felony, huh? Should I take that as a confession, Ms. Aran?"

Samus laughed softly as the other woman rested her face against her chest. "You really going to try to arrest me, Officer Rodriguez?"

Elisa laughed. "Well, I could let you off with a warning for now. I guess. It looks like you've been having a pretty rough day. Besides, we are well outside of my jurisdiction."

The bounty hunter held the police officer close and savored her soft scent. It was welcoming and familiar and helped to put her at ease as she held Elisa remembering the last time they had been together. The only difference was that now her alien senses magnified the scent and let her discover new subtle complexities to it. "I've changed a bit since the last time you saw me."

"I know," Elisa replied softly. "I've learned to just assume that you're full of new surprises every time I see you."

"Heh," Samus chuckled nervously. "You don't know the half of it. And we should probably get back inside to the ceremony because there is one hell of a surprise coming this way in the next few minutes."

Elisa took her hands from around Samus's waist and rested them on the bounty hunter's chest. Samus leaned down as Elisa got up on her tiptoes and the two women shared a quick but passionate kiss. They loathed pulling away from one another, but Elisa took Samus's hand in her non-robotic one and walked with the bounty hunter back into the ceremony. Now that the crowd was sitting and still, it was easier for Samus to bear as she and her companion stood side-by-side at the doorway and waited.

It didn't take long before the facilitator's speech was cut short by a set of double doors opening on the other side of the auditorium as Ellen Ripley, Newt, and General Malkovich himself stepped through and walked into the room. Ripley and Newt still had on the same clothes they had worn on LV-426, but Samus noticed Adam had cleaned himself up and was wearing the same decorated General's coat he had wrapped her in after her resurrection. Excited chatter filled the stands as the General stepped forward toward the center of the room, reaching out his hand to take the microphone from the facilitator as he glanced at the simple silver memorial.

"Good afternoon, Ladies, Gentlemen, and beings whose species do not experience sexual dimorphism," he said calmly, his voice projecting for everyone to hear as a hush fell over the audience. "I'd like to thank you all for attending my funeral today. I apologize that it wasn't really necessary, but it almost was. As you may have noticed, I am very much alive. This is only because a recent attempt on my life failed, although I believe my would-be assassins got a little ahead of themselves with the festivities. Make no mistake of it, I have witnesses who will testify about the events that transpired on the moon LV-426, and those who attempted to kill me will quickly be brought to justice. Not simply for my attempted murder but for the murder of nearly every colonist at Hadley's Hope, a ship full of Colonial Marines, and a ship full of the Federation's own troops."

As Adam returned the microphone to the facilitator, everyone stared in hushed silence. Samus noticed Keaton casting her a curious glance as Harper had her eyes trained on Adam. No one was really sure how to respond to what had transpired, and as Adam, Ripley, and Newt exited the building from the same doors through which they had entered, Samus and Elisa slipped out through the entryway and walked around the building to meet them in the back.

"Did you know about this?" Elisa asked Samus as the two women came up on Adam and the others staring expectantly at them.

"Yes," Samus replied. "I'm the one who rescued them."

Elisa laughed. "Of course you are."

The two women stopped as they joined the rest of their group, and Samus turned to Elisa. "Look, I've got a prisoner to deliver into federal custody, and I'm sure I'll have a lot of fires to put out after the stunt we just pulled. After that though… do you want to come by and I could show you around my ship?"

Elisa smiled as she wrapped her arms back around the bounty hunter's waist. "I would love to."


	35. Days Go By

Samus was aware that there was someone beside her before she was fully awake. It didn't alarm her, however, as she slowly opened her eyes and felt the warm presence of the other woman in her arms. Although it always took her a little while to figure out where she was upon awakening, this scenario was familiar to her and strangely soothing.

Elisa looked back at her with her large brown eyes and smiled as her lover awakened. The two women were snuggled close under the covers of Samus's bed on her ship. Samus looked around at the rows of rifles that lined the walls and then back at the woman in her arms.

"Good morning," Elisa said softly, brushing the hair out of Samus's face. "You were out for a good ten hours, you know."

The bounty hunter rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Is that all?"

"Most people would consider that a long time."

Samus shrugged as she closed her eyes again, her head firmly pressing itself into the pillow. "I haven't slept in days." It had been a very long time since she had slept. She had not even caught a minute of rest since right after being revived by the Chozo. It may not have been the longest she had ever stayed awake, but it had felt like a long stretch given that she had challenged Silver Wing, rescued the survivors, defeated the xenomorph Queen, and attended the faux funeral all since the last time she had woken up.

"Hey you," Elisa said, shaking her lightly and causing the sleepy bounty hunter to open one eye and stare at her languidly. "I've been awake a couple of hours now waiting for you."

Samus grunted and rolled over, turning her back to the other woman. "Just give me a few more hours." She was sore all over and reluctant to leave the warmth of the covers. Now that she had finally taken some time to recuperate, her battles were catching up with her.

Elisa propped herself up, reaching over her lover to lightly embrace her as she planted a kiss on the side of her face. "How about a compromise? You sleep and I'll make breakfast. I'll wake you when it's done." Fortunately for both of them, the police officer had been acquainted enough with the bounty hunter's lifestyle that she had thought to pick up some groceries before coming over the night before.

Samus made a sound Elisa decided to take as a "yes", and she slipped quickly out of bed, stopping only to throw on a pair of panties and a bra as she hurried out of the room. As the other woman left, the bounty hunter curled herself up more tightly in the blankets, acutely aware that her source of warmth had left. As much as she wanted to go back to sleep, there was a part of her that was too afraid that the other woman would be gone by the time she woke up again.

She had not expected to be able to sleep the night before, as wired as she was from the fights on LV-426 and then the hours she has spent after the funeral giving statements to Federation officials and trying to help straighten out the chaos that had erupted from Adam's mysterious rise from the dead. Seeing him reunited with his family had been heartwarming but emotionally exhausting. Marza and the girls had been so grateful to her for rescuing him that she had found it overwhelming and quietly excused herself before she was technically supposed to leave.

As much as she hated to get up, Samus slowly sat up and stretched. There were so many things she needed to do, including checking in on how Ripley and Newt were doing. The Federation officials had put them up in a hotel room for the duration of the investigation. They had wanted Adam to stay in a similar situation, but Marza has fought so adamantly to let him come home that Keaton had finally relented. He had tried at one point to insist that Samus stay in quarantine until they were able to determine what had happened to her, but she had never been one to comply with those sorts of things. She knew what had happened to her, and they had no legal authority to compel her to stay in quarantine without some tangible or clearly articulated cause. The fact that her face looked weird didn't really meet that standard.

As she got up, she threw on a pair of jeans and a loose flannel shirt. She grabbed a second one for Elisa as an afterthought realizing the only clothing the other woman had brought with her was the dress she had worn to the funeral. As Samus stepped out into the living room, Archer rushed up to greet her. Carefully, she got down on one knee and ruffled the dog's fur, scratching him lovingly behind his ears. "Good morning, boy. Who's a good dog?"

"One of these days he's going to demand you answer that," Elisa called from the kitchen section of the room.

Samus looked up and laughed as she got to her feet. "I think he knows I'm talking about him."

Elisa shrugged, and Samus realized the other woman had found a pair of red and black plaid pajama pants and put them on. She was pretty sure they were the pair she had been wearing the night before when Elisa had arrived. She had been alone and halfway through a previously unopened bottle of whiskey when the other woman had called to let her know she was outside the ship. It wasn't long after she had let Elisa in that the pair of flannel pajama pants in question had ended up somewhere on the living room floor.

"I can't believe you had five people and a giant dog in here," Elisa said as she set a couple of plates out beside the cooktop. She was frying some eggs and a good amount of bacon.

"Six people," Samus replied, handing the other woman her spare shirt to put on, "if you count the prisoner in transport. Seven if you also count the severed android head."

Elisa gratefully took the shirt as she quickly put it on. "I didn't realize until it was too late that cooking bacon in just pants and a bra was probably not the best decision I've ever made." She used her spatula to plate the eggs and bacon before starting on the next batch and handing the plate to Samus. "Eat up before it gets cold."

The bounty hunter gratefully took the plate and sat in one of the stools at the narrow island counter as she began to wolf down her meal.

Elisa smiled as she watched Samus enjoying her food. "When was the last time you ate anyway?"

Samus shrugged and finished chewing before she tried to answer. "What day of the week is it?"

"Wednesday."

"Maybe Sunday then? I lose track… Adam made me something at one point on LV-426."

"Geez, Samus!" Elisa looked at the bounty hunter in shock. "Are you trying to starve yourself to death? You sucked down half a bottle of liquor last night after not eating since  _Sunday_?"

Samus shrugged, not wanting to discuss it further. "I think it was Sunday. Maybe it was Saturday. I really don't remember. Time is fuzzy when I'm planet-hopping."

Elisa leaned on the counter in front of Samus. "You need to take better care of yourself. Seriously."

The bounty hunter grunted, trying to brush off the comment, but when Elisa didn't move away, she sighed. "I've been making an effort to do that. I just screwed up last night. LV-426 was a bad mission for me, and I had a lot of things I needed to think about."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Samus shook her head, keeping her eyes on her plate. "I don't see how that would help. Won't change anything."

"It's not good to keep it bottled up either."

The bounty hunter sighed as she put down her fork down and looked up at Elisa. "Look, you don't have to worry too much about me not eating or sleeping normally. I'm not really human. I mean, at this point, I'm barely passable as a human at all… There's just a lot of stuff that's been happening lately, and I just need some time to process it all."

Elisa frowned and turned back to the magnetic cooktop, turning off it off and making her own plate of bacon and eggs. As she took a seat beside Samus at the counter, she turned and looked at her companion. "Getting drunk alone on a space ship isn't a great way of processing anything."

"No, it's not. But I don't… I don't even know where to start." Samus shook her head and stayed silent for a long moment. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you noticed I look different."

Elisa nodded. "I noticed."

Samus looked at her companion, afraid that if she tried speaking about anything that everything would overwhelm her and burst out like water from a broken dam. "You know I'm part Chozo and that I'm some kind of super soldier. I haven't always been that way though. I was born human. My family was killed by Space Pirates when I was a kid. The Chozo sort of adopted… or maybe abducted… me after that, and they engineered me into a bioweapon so they could have something to protect them from the Space Pirates. But when the Pirates attacked Zebes, our planet, I was only fourteen. I lost."

Elisa had stopped eating at this point and turned her full attention to Samus, gently placing a hand on the bounty hunter's forearm.

"I thought everyone died in that battle," Samus continued. "I spent years fighting, thinking I was the last Chozo. I thought of them as my family since I didn't really remember anyone else. But now, on LV-426, I ran into some Chozo that had apparently survived, and I found some… old data files. About me. About the experiments they were running and how they built me, and I'm very… conflicted about the whole thing. I feel like I was just a weapon to them the whole time even though I've spent the last nineteen years thinking I was carrying on some great legacy." Samus touched the dark scars on the right side of her face. "Something happened on this mission. Someone… that prisoner I transferred to Federation custody yesterday… that person stabbed me in the back. Literally. So that she could have this really nasty looking alien impregnate me and use my body as a host to gestate its young."

"Samus…" Elisa said softly, but the bounty hunter waved off her concern as she continued.

"She succeeded. But between the stab wound, other injuries I had, and the trauma of the alien, it was too much. I died… I guess. A couple of Chozo found and revived me just enough so that my body could attack and absorb the alien spawn that was growing inside me. It worked. I'm alive… um, but I guess that's obvious. And I've now incorporated that monster's genetic material in with my own. I'm part… one of those things. And I just… I don't know. What the hell even am I?"

The bounty hunter looked so distressed that as she finished her story, Elisa threw her arms around her shoulders and pulled her in close. "You're Samus Aran. You're just kind of you own thing."

"Heh." The bounty hunter tensed slightly, but she didn't fight against the hug. "I guess I am my own species." The idea would not have bothered her so much if her son had been truly a full-blooded human, but now she knew that was not the case and didn't know what that could mean for the boy's future.

Elisa gave the bounty hunter one more quick squeeze before she pulled back. "I know you still have more to do today. I don't want to keep you from that."

Samus grunted as she snapped back into the present moment. "Yeah… that stuff. There's something else I need to do first before I can deal with any of that."

"What's that?" Elisa asked, intrigued and wondering excitedly if her lover were suggesting they go another round so soon.

"Coffee," Samus said with a yawn. "I need at least two cups of coffee before anything productive happens."

Elisa quietly hid her disappointment.

* * *

"So where are you going to be living now?" Samus asked as she leaned back and sipped her coffee. She, Ripley, and Adam were sitting around the big wooden table in the General's kitchen. Like everything else in the Malkovich house, the kitchen had a cozy, country sort of feel to it.

All three of them were dressed casually, although Adam still wore a pair of well-pressed slacks as opposed the blue jeans favored by Samus and Ripley. Marza and the girls were out, and Newt was in the backyard playing with Archer. It had been nearly a week since the fateful funeral, and Ripley and Newt had been living in a hotel room while Samus had been going back to the shipyard every night. With the military's investigation still going on, they had all ended up on something of an involuntary vacation since getting back to Earth. Samus had the option to leave if she wanted because she had been privately contracted for the mission, but she had not had any interest in it so far, much preferring to spend her days with her son and Adam's family.

Ripley shrugged as she snapped a long cookie in half and dunked it in her coffee. "One thing at a time. I had an apartment but it was provided by the Company, and I'm honestly done with them."

"You could live out of a suitcase like Samus does," Adam said with a light chuckle. "Spend most of your time on a space ship exploring the universe."

"While I can definitely see the appeal in that," Ripley replied, "and I mean no disrespect to Samus's lifestyle, I'd really rather be in a more brick and mortar kind of place. Kids need stability, and social workers really look at that sort of thing."

"No disrespect taken," the bounty hunter said with a smirk. "Honestly, the nomad lifestyle does get old after a while, and if you're planning to adopt Newt, I really don't recommend it. Besides, even I keep an apartment somewhere."

"Yes," Adam said, "and when was the last time you were there?"

"I don't know." Samus shrugged. "Spent a lot of time there after I blew up Zebes."

"The only time she goes there," Adam said, turning to Ripley, "is when she feels like being a brooding recluse and ghosting everyone for a few months."

The flight officer laughed as she looked at the bounty hunter. "I'm actually starting to think you've got the right idea. Dealing with humans is exhausting. At least with the xenomorphs we never saw them screwing anyone over for a few lousy credits."

Samus nodded absently. "I've actually fond of humans, but only in small doses. To be fair though, I'm warming up to the idea of being around them lately."

"Oh?" Ripley asked, intrigued. "What are you thinking?"

"It's just been such a long time," the bounty hunter replied, "since I've had a place to call home. A place to really call home. One that didn't fly and that I actually felt comfortable being in. Hell, I sleep in my pilot chair most nights because I converted my bedroom into a gun closet. I'm thinking it might be good to get something a little more substantial in my life."

"I always wondered," the General mused aloud, "if I'd live to see the day you said something like that."

"I mean it," Samus said, setting her coffee mug down and looking between Ripley and Adam. "I've got a kid, and I think I'd like to see him a little more regularly. Elisa drove back up to Rosewood a few days ago, but she's still close enough to come down and visit on weekends. I've been thinking about maybe getting a little house or something. Nothing fancy. Just somewhere I can put paint on the walls. Maybe a garage for tinkering with ground vehicles and things. The Space Pirate War is over. I'm not on call nearly as much as I used to be. Maybe it's time to start focusing on myself and having an actual life."

"Seriously," the General said, raising his eyebrows and staring at her in disbelief. "Who are you and what have you done with Samus Aran?"

"What?" Samus asked, feigning innocence. "I think this stupid planet has really grown on me."

"I don't know much about Earth," Ripley said, looking back and forth between the mercenary and the General. "I'm a stranger here myself, but don't they have really strict immigration laws especially for… half-humans?"

"They do," Samus replied, drinking some more coffee. "It's almost impossible to even get a visa to come to Earth if you're a delta class semi-human. Unless you were born on an Earth Colony, it turns out. If you were born on a colony, no matter how far away the planet was, you can get automatic citizenship to Earth and even own property and things if you having a blood relative living here."

"And you have a son," Ripley said with a grin.

Samus shook her head. "No, as far as anyone knows, I never had children. I'm sterile now, and I just tell people I always have been. But I do have a relative named Morrigan, and Elisa agreed to facilitate working with her and me to help me swing some kind of citizenship. I saw my birth certificate for the first time a few months ago, and now I can prove I was born on K-2L."

"And that was an Earth Colony?" Ripley asked.

Samus nodded. "A very infamous one."

"You're thinking of looking for a house around here?" Adam asked, still surprised by her sudden change in attitude.

"Somewhere around this area." Samus shrugged. "I'll start going by 'Rhonda' again and hope people in the suburbs are just too fake-polite to ask about my scars."

"That's a big lifestyle shift," Adam cautioned, setting his coffee down.

"I know," Samus said, a hint of defiance in her voice. "I don't expect it to be an easy transition, and I'm not saying I could ever do it full time. I'm too restless to ever stay in one place very long. But life moves pretty fast, and I've nearly lost mine a few times now. One of these days, my luck is going to run out, and I'd like to get in a few good years before that happens." She turned to Ripley and added casually, "If you and Newt want to live in part of it, be my guests. Pay rent or don't. I don't care one way or the other. Even when I'm home I won't want to be around people much, so you'll have plenty of space."

Ripley looked at her in surprise. "You're actually serious."

"I usually am," Samus replied.

"I mean… I'd have to think about it, but this is a nice area for Newt to grow up. I'd pay you, of course. I'm not going to take advantage of your hospitality."

"I don't care one way or the other," Samus said. "Trust me, I've had a better career than any mercenary you've ever heard of. Money has not been an issue for me in a very long time. I guess I just see a lot of myself in that little girl and want to make sure she doesn't end up having the life I did."

"Wow," Ripley said, really looking at the bounty hunter. "I'm not sure what to say. Thank you… for everything. You've already saved us. I'm sorry I ever—"

Samus brushed the comment off with a wave of her hand. "Whatever. You'd never met a semi-human before, and I'm a particularly scary one."

"You're a really noble person, Samus Aran."

The bounty hunter felt herself blush as she tried to sink down in her seat and failed. "I'm far from noble. I try to be decent, but that's a much lower bar, and I don't always even make that."

"I beg to differ," Adam replied.

"Ditto," Ripley added.

Samus could feel her face getting redder. Praise had never been something with which she was comfortable. "Excuse me," she said quietly as she got up and dismissed herself from the table.

 


	36. Epilogue: Taken by the Sky

General Malkovich left the chaos of the general public as he closed the door behind him and stepped into the government section of the Federation Capitol Building on Daiban. After spending a month on Earth, he had been reluctant to leave his wife and daughters, but he had a duty to uphold, and that was not about to change just because someone had made an attempt on his life. After a month filled with long hearings and depositions about the incident on LV-426, he had finally been cleared to leave Earth and return to his regular life as a Federation Army General.

It felt strange to be back on Daiban, heading toward the Chairman's Chambers, and it felt like he had been gone for far longer than a couple of months. Still, this sudden return to what should been normalcy was almost calming in a way. After the uncertainty of the LV-426 incident and the various legal hoops they had jumped through on Earth, it felt good to be back in his regular role.

When he arrived at Keaton's door, he saluted to the massive, crustacean-like guards on either side of it as they allowed him to enter. The General stepped into a large, round office with a dome-shaped ceiling. Missile-proof one-way glass encircled the walls, giving a view of the world outside the unique chamber while maintaining privacy within. Oil paintings of past Chairmen hung upon the wall, and Adam silently noted a place being cleared for where Keaton's would soon hang as well.

"Good afternoon, General Malkovich," the small, green alien called from behind his desk, noticing the way the General had looked toward where the newest portrait would soon hang.

"Good evening, Chairman," Adam said respectfully, saluting the Commander-in-Chief and returning his hands to their formal resting pose behind his back.

"You're looking good considering how long you were supposed to be 'dead'," the alien drawled in his dry, dismissive tone. His wrinkles always made him look annoyed, and something about tone always suggestion a certain snide emphasis to anything he said. "You'll be glad to know that the prisoner you and Aran brought back is being detained in one of our maximum security facilities, and we'll be using some of our more creative interrogation techniques in the coming days if she doesn't start singing like one of those insufferable little yellow Earth birds."

"I believe they are called 'canaries', Sir," Adam said, still trying to maintain a respectful tone although Keaton did have a way of getting his skin. "While I'm glad to know Dr. Grey is being detained, I need to know why General Harper isn't. She was directly involved in the attempt on my life."

"Well, General," Keaton continued, "I'd like to see her and whole lot of them behind bars as much as the next person. Believe me. Knowing that they are card-carrying members of the Party that will be replacing me in the coming months is not something that sits well with me at all. Unfortunately, while we were able to have Secretary of Defense Green stripped of his rank and imprisoned for treason based on yours and Aran's findings, Harper has made the claim that she was simply following what she was told through the chain of command and was completely innocent as to the existence of any conspiracy. We have no proof that her statements are not true."

"But what about Dr. Grey's statements?"

"They don't point to Harper. They point to Green. He's their scape-goat, and given that he outranks Harper, it's entirely plausible that she had no idea what was going on."

"But what about what Harper said to Samus at the funeral?" Adam's normally impassive face betrayed his frustration as he mentally ran through the angles through which they might get to General Harper. "Surely there was something there we could use."

Keaton's wrinkly face shifted in a way that looked like he would have been raising his eyebrows if he had any. "You mean when Aran assaulted and threatened the life of a prominent Federation Army General? Trust me when I say  _Harper_ is not the one who incriminated herself in that scenario. And if you want us to stay out of your mercenary friend's hair, you will avoid bringing that up again. No one has pressed charges yet, but Aran's going to want to keep a low profile for a while and not try to screw around with the incoming administration."

Adam glared at the Chairman, silently noting the comments about Samus but refusing to acknowledge them. "So Harper just walks?"

"For now, yes. And like I said, unless you have concrete evidence against her, I wouldn't antagonize her too much, especially if you value your little mercenary friend's freedom." Keaton narrowed his beady black eyes as he stared at the General. "Grey's testimony, on the other hand, might prove to be absolutely damning to Harper, and if we can get her like that, her role in the coup will be irrefutable, and she will go away for a long, long time."

"Understood," Adam said quietly with a respectful nod.

"Until then, I don't want to see any half-assed bounty hunter heroics or anything like she pulled at the funeral, understand?"

The General nodded soberly. "Yes, of course."

"She listens to you for some reason I don't understand. And look, I don't like Aran or her methods, but between you and me, General, she's one of the few people I trust right now. And I don't want to lose one of my most useful assets."

"Understood," Adam replied. He knew Keaton considered Samus to be more than just a "useful asset" but that was the most endearing term he could ever hope to hear from the gruff little alien. "Just one more question, Sir. What became of LV-426 and the species discovered there?"

"Oh," the Chairman waved his hand dismissively as he leaned back in his chair, "we took that moon out days ago. Too dangerous given the current political climate. It's nothing but dust and space rock by now."

"You blew it up?" Adam stared at the Chairman in shocked horror, remembering the Chozo that lived below the surface. "Samus is not going to be happy about this…"

Keaton snorted and made a strange sound in his throat that might have been a laugh. "Well, Samus hardly has a leg to stand on when it comes to lecturing anyone on the ethics of blowing up planets. Besides, I would think she of all people would be happy to hear we destroyed the xenomorphs and any remaining traces of the Metroids."

"But the Chozo…"

Keaton shrugged. "Sacrifices have to be made sometimes, and Metroids are far too dangerous to keep alive. Recall what happened when Ridley got word of the larva on Ceres. The Pirates may not be around anymore for the most part, but there are other enemies even within the Federation itself. The life of a single Chozo was not found to be anywhere near as important as preventing another war."

Adam stared quietly at the Chairman. He had told him of his initial encounter with Silver Wing after Samus had been killed, but he had left out the fact that there had been other Chozo living down in the ruins. Now, unless they had sensed the Federation ships incoming and found a way to escape the planet undetected, they were likely nothing more than dust and space rock as well. In terms of preserving galactic peace, destroying LV-426 may have been the right call, but Adam knew as far as Samus would be concerned, it was murder.

"Please," Adam said quietly, "tell me you broadcasted some kind of message to the Chozo before you destroyed LV-426."

Keaton nodded, now suspicious that the General knew more than he was letting on. "We sent a broadcast. It was all done to protocol. We gave anyone there a countdown sequence to evacuate. We didn't see any ships leave, however."

Adam just nodded quietly. That did not sound hopeful, but he knew the Chozo possessed technologies far more advanced than any other species in the known universe. Samus's ship had a nearly perfect cloaking feature that made it undetectable in most situations. He didn't say anything aloud, but he silently hoped the Chozo had the same. He was not sure he actually wanted the bird aliens to survive the blast after what they had put Samus through both on LV-426 and when they had abducted her as a child, but he knew that they were still important to her, and it would hurt her to learn of their deaths.

"Will that be all for today, Sir?" the General asked softly after a brief silence.

Keaton nodded. "That's all. You're free to go, General. But keep your ears out for anything else. I don't know who we can trust these days."

Adam nodded. "Affirmative."

* * *

Portia Grey sat silently in the cold interrogation room. There were no windows, clocks, or anything to show the passage of time. Her legs and remaining hand were shackled to the cold, steel chair that was bolted to the floor, and before her sat an empty table that was much the same way. Her hand-less arm was bound to her body with heavy restraints.

She was not sure how long she had been in the room. It felt like days, but there was no way of knowing. She had been in almost complete isolation since her arrest, her only reprieve from the solitude being the times people would come in to bring her food or allow her use of a bedpan. Whatever was coming, however, she knew would be infinitely worse than sitting in silence indefinitely, and she was terrified out of her mind.

It may have been days later when a young woman dressed in an officer's uniform entered the room. She carried a standard sidearm but otherwise held only a tablet for note taking.

"Dr. Portia Grey?" She said as she stepped into the room and bolted the door behind her. Her pale face was stern, and her ashy brown hair was pulled back into a severe bun. She had a stocky build, but she was a fairly tall woman. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Maroney. I'll be the one interrogating you this evening."

Portia looked up at the woman through sunken eyes. Her lips were horribly chapped from dehydration, and she thirsted terribly, but she almost wanted to laugh at how bizarre the other woman's words had sounded, as though she were introducing herself as a hotel concierge as opposed to her soon-to-be torturer.

"Not very talkative, are you?" Maroney asked as she stared Portia down. "That's a good thing. I trust you haven't spoken to any of the others?"

The only other people Portia had seen had been the ones bringing her meals. Her voice was no longer used to talking and her throat burned painfully, so the doctor just shook her head.

"Good," Maroney continued, setting her tablet down on the table as she took a seat across from Portia. "And we're going to make sure they can't get a single word out of you. Congratulations, Dr. Grey. General Harper was very impressed with your performance. You may not have taken out Malkovich, but you did prove one very important thing: the Hunter is killable. That information alone will be invaluable in the years to come."

Portia looked at the other woman in confusion.

"You're probably wondering if this is some sort of good-cop-bad-cop routine," Maroney said, reading the thoughts Portia's addled mind was too sluggish to process at the moment. "It's not. I'm here from the Party to make sure that no one else can get to you. The torture techniques the Federation utilizes are absolutely unspeakably harsh. I don't want you to have to go through that after the way you served us."

Portia stared at her expectantly. Her wide-eyed gaze gave a mixture of fear and a glimmer of hope. "You're… here…" she tried to speak through her parched throat, but her voice broke sharply on each word, "to protect… me?"

Maroney nodded. "You're the only one who knows what happened on LV-426, and you killed the Hunter. You've served the cause so loyally and so well, we're not about to let you fall back into the clutches of Keaton's goons."

With a single, fluid motion, Maroney pulled the sidearm from its holster and fired a single shot straight into Portia's head. The doctor was dead before her limp form even hit the table in front of her.

Picking up her tablet and returning the gun to its holster, the woman stood up and nodded to the bleeding remains of Portia Grey. "Your Party thanks you for your service."

* * *

There were some mechanics who knew how to make beautiful, life-like androids that were indistinguishable from real humans, and there were some who just knew how to throw together something functional that would get the job done. As Samus Aran fiddled with a few connection tubes and circuits on the robotic leg laying on her work table, she knew she was very much in the second category.

As she had promised Ripley before the two women had moved in together, she was working on trying to restore Bishop's body so that his head could be reattached and the synthetic person who had saved her life could "live" once more. It was tedious work, but Samus didn't mind it. Sometimes doing such concrete, systematic tasks helped to put her mind at ease, and that was definitely something she needed this evening.

Over a month had passed since the LV-426 incident, and she was now the proud owner of a large five bedroom suburban home not far from where Adam lived. Even though it was technically her house, Ripley rented from her and she gave the flight officer and her newly adopted daughter the run of most of it. There were only a few rooms off limits to them: Samus's bedroom, her private bathroom, a second bedroom she had turned into her own private living room, and the garage workshop in which she now stood. There was a door leading into the main part of the house, but Samus mostly kept that locked, preferring to go up the spiral staircase she had installed that led to her upstairs living quarters.

It was not an ideal living situation, but Samus liked living so close to her son and being able to see him after school or on the weekends. She had also been ecstatic when Adam had suggested he help turn the garage into her own work space so she could tinker with various vehicles and robotics to her heart's content when she was not working. Indeed, Samus had taken full advantage of the situation, and beside the robotics section of her workshop was parked a brand new hover-car painted in a bright red. The other vehicle, however, was her real prize: a sleek black hover-motorcycle she had been working on customizing to perfection. Aside from the anxiety-induced variety, adrenaline rushes were hard to come by on Earth, and riding that hover-bike was usually the best she got lately.

That was not a bad thing, however. The galaxy was the most peaceful it had ever been since the start of the Space Pirate War thirty years ago, and it was Samus's first real experience with that kind of world. There was no pressing need for her to put on her powersuit and rush off into battle, and she was surprisingly okay with that. While she still occasionally looked online to see what positions were open for mercenaries, she had not seen many that looked worthwhile to her. There was one position working with a company called "Biologic" she was thinking of taking, but it was fairly light, steady work. They were just looking for someone with weapons training and alien species knowledge to escort their scientists to collect flora and fauna samples for some big space lab they were hoping to finish building within the next four or five years.

Samus set aside the robotic leg for the night as she stretched and took her hair down from its high ponytail. She slipped off her flannel shirt to reveal the black tank top underneath as she hung it on her workbench. Looking around her solitary little workshop, she smiled and walked up the spiral stairs to her living quarters. She found herself in the hallway between her two bedrooms and her bathroom. She paused only for a moment to wash up in her sink and take a look at herself in the mirror.

The black vein-like markings were still visible as ever, and while she was still extremely muscular, there was a slightly softer, better-nourished look to her face and body. Still, she rarely went out into town during the day, hating the way people seemed to stare at her. One thing about Earth she would never get used to was how uncomfortable the people were around a semi-human, especially now that she could no longer pass as a full human.

Samus sighed as she turned off the water and dried her hands. Living on Earth was difficult for her in a lot of ways, but being so close to her "family" was doing wonders for her health both physical and mentally. She had found a doctor who actually took the time to treat her and gotten on medication to make the acidity of her blood more manageable. Even her stubborn blood pressure was getting down into the normal range, and she had managed to see the same therapist for nearly three weeks now without storming off or accidently becoming violent. Most people probably would not have seen that as an accomplishment, but Samus was secretly proud of herself for it.

As she left the bathroom, she unbolted the heavy door that separated her living quarters from the rest of the house and locked it behind her as she stepped out into the main upstairs hallway. There were three more bedrooms up here: one for Ripley, one for Newt, and one for guests. Not that they had ever used the guest room. The only people who ever stayed over were Elisa and Hector, and Hector usually slept in Samus's private living room. Elisa, on the other hand, shared the bounty hunter's bed nearly every weekend.

She smiled as she thought of the police officer. It had been a long time since she had slept beside anyone so consistently, and she was sleeping much more peacefully than she had in years. Sometimes living on Earth was difficult, but the people in her life made it worthwhile. Still, Samus had always had a restless spirit ever since she was a child, and on nights like this, she still found it impossible to sleep.

As she walked down the stairs, she took care not to make any noise and wake up her housemates. The downstairs was an open floor plan with a kitchen, living room, and dining room all in one big area. The soft ticking of the clock on the wall made the dark room feel that much more peaceful. She loved how still everything was at night and how solitary it was, and she loved how homey she and Ripley had managed to make the house look. The walls were painted a soft blue, and her set of checkered couches matched well with the solid plush rug beneath them. Text books were still open on the table from where she assumed Hector and Abby had been doing homework while they were over earlier, but she had not come out to see them. She had just been having one of those days where she could not deal with being around people, and fortunately, Ripley and Hector were very considerate of that even if they didn't understand it. Still, it made her happy to see that the house actually looked like people lived in it.

Never having kept a regular nine-to-five schedule, the bounty hunter slept very different hours than the others did, and she often savored these quiet nights alone in the living room. Only Jones, Ripley's orange cat, was awake as he watched her from atop his fuzzy castle structure in the corner. Samus had not been crazy about having a cat around given that she had Archer, but the two animals mostly seemed to ignore each other. Tonight, she ignored the cat as she walked over to the coat closet and pulled out her favorite leather jacket. Putting it on, she grabbed a piece of sunflower stationary off her refrigerator door and scrawled a note on it in her not-often-used handwriting.

_I'll come home before the weekend. Feed the dog._

Leaving the note out in the middle of the counter, she weighted it down with the first thing she could find, which in this case was a coffee mug. It might not have been the best way to let people know where she was leaving, but it was one of those restless nights where she got the itch to go somewhere, even if she was not sure where. Usually she was fine just riding her motorcycle for a few hours and coming home before sunrise, but tonight was different. There was a deep longing in her that had been growing this past month, and she no longer felt like trying to repress it.

Stepping out into the cool night air, she took a deep breath and savored it. Try as they might to recreate it, there was no air quite like Earth's anywhere else in the galaxy. With a grin, she walked around to the front of the garage and put in the code to open it. Her new bike greeted her like an old friend, and she was on it and riding away within a matter of minutes. She only waited to close the garage back up and secure the force fields around the house. Even if she was gone, she was not about to let anything happen to the people within. After that, she disappeared into the shadows of the night, flying down the streets as her body hugged the machine beneath her and it took her wherever she wanted to go.

Normally, she'd ride around the interstates with no real destination in mind, but now she flew full speed ahead toward the one place on Earth that really felt like her home. Not just the home of Hector's mother, "Rhonda Sinclaire", but the home of bounty hunter Samus Aran. She parked her bike at the private shipyards and used her ID to get inside. When she got to the hangar that contained her ship, she scanned her handprint and provided a small blood sample so the heavily reinforced door would open and give her access.

There, in the private hangar, was her ship, its golden orange glow as brilliant and welcoming as she remembered. Excitement surged through her as she jumped on top of it and lowered herself down into the hatch. She may not have been back here since buying her house, but everything felt familiar and just right as though she had never left at all.

As naturally as anything, Samus headed into the cockpit and took her rightful seat in the pilot's chair, inputting the codes so the hangar doors would open up. But she barely gave them time to fully open before the orange-gold ship raced out of them and into the night sky, the moon and stars calling to her as she blasted out of the atmosphere and back into space, her real home.

She had meant what she said in her note about being home before the weekend. At least, she intended for it to be true, but knowing how one way led to another, she never really knew how true it could be. As much as she loved her family and the life she was trying to build with them, there was a part of her that always felt like being on Earth was like being trapped in a cage.

She would return eventually. That she could swear on her life. She could never abandon her son, her dog, or the life they were working so hard to build together. But Samus was not the sort of bird who could stay in a cage forever, and as the vast universe stretched before her, she knew she could go anywhere she desired. Her freedom was as necessary to her as food or oxygen, and her restlessness would never go away until it was satiated.

And so she dropped all pretense of being a human and surrendered to the vast expanse of space's welcoming call. There were still planets to explore and battles to fight if only she could find them, and find them she would.

But now, unlike before, she could plan for "after," for the time after the battles were won and her adventures drew to a close. Now, for the first time since leaving the Chozo and ending up thrust into space without a lifeline, she had a home and people to return to. And that made all the difference in the universe.

 


End file.
